I^LAjt 


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CHRISTIAN    ADVENTURES 


IN 


SOUTH    AFRICA. 


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WILLIAM   TAYLOE. 


CHRISTIAN  ADVENTURES 


SOUTH  AFRICA. 


EEV.   WILLIAM   TAYLOR, 


OF  THE   SOUTH   INDIA   CONFEEENCE, 


AUTHOR    OF 


"CALIFORNIA     LIFE    ILLUSTRATED,"     "ADDRESS     TO     YOUNG     AMERICA," 

"SEVEN    YEARS'    STREET-PREACHING    IN  SAN  FRANCISCO," 

"RECONCILIATION;    OR,   HOW  TO  BE  SAVED," 

"THE  MODEL  PREACHER,"   ETC. 


*  St,  Paul  declared  particularly  what  things  God  had  wrought  among  the  Gentiles 
by  his  ministry.     And  when  they  heard  it  they  glorified  the  Lord." — Luke. 


THIRTEENTH  THOUSAND. 


NEW  YORK: 

PHILLIPS     &     HUNT. 

1 88 1. 


PEEFACE. 


rpHE  numerous  facts  and  incidents  contained  in 
this  volume  are  illustrative,  first,  of  the  history, 
extent,  resources,  population,  and  varied  life  of  South 
Africa ;  and  second,  of  Christian  adventures  in 
South  Africa,  in  great  variety,  through  a  period  of 
fifty  years,  but  especially  of  the  recent  great  work 
of  God  in  Cape  Colony,  Kaffraria,  and  Natal.  I  had 
no  u  guide  books  "  from  which  to  copy,  but  derived 
my  facts  from  their  original  sources.  I  am  in- 
debted for  some  historical  matter  to  Wilmofs  Essay 
on  the  "  Rise,  Progress,  and  Present  Condition  of 
Cape  Colony/'  and  to  Bev.  Wm.  Shaw's  very  inter- 


d  PREFACE 

esting  work,  The  Story  of  my  Mimo-i,  and  for  statis- 
tical matter  to  the  Colonial  Blue  Books,  but  the 
mass  of  my  facts  an<3  incidents  are  fresh  from  their 
original  life  sources,  accompanied  by  the  names  of 
their  living  actors  and  observers. 

THE  AUTHOR 
London,  November  ZOth,  1867. 


INTRODUCTION. 


1.  As  this  interesting-  and  remarkable  narrative 
will  probably  be  read  by  many  who  are  but  partially 
informed  respecting  Christian  Missions  in  South 
Africa,  it  appears  desirable  to  state,  that,  within 
and  beyond  Cape  Colony  and  Natal,  four  of  the  prin- 
cipal English  Missionary  Societies,  one  American, 
two  Scotch,  and  five  Foreign  Societies,  occupy 
among  them  about  two  hundred  and  twenty-four 
principal  Stations,  and  employ  above  two  hundred 
and  seventy  European  Missionaries,  besides  Native 


-▼Ill  UfTRODUCTION. 

Assistants.     This   apDears  to  be  a  large   supply   of 
Ministerial  Agency  to  meet  the  spiritual  wants  of  a 
population  not  exceeding  by  the  highest  calculation 
much  more  than  a  million  of  souls ;    and  contrasts 
strangely  with  the  disproportionate  number  of  Mission- 
aries labouring  in  India  and  China ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  this  population 
is  widely  scattered  over  an  area  of  more  than  a  mil 
lion  of  square  miles :  rendering  a  larger  amount  oi 
agency  necessary  than  where  the  population  is  more 
dense ;    and,  further,  that  many  of  the  Missionaries, 
acting  as  Pastors  of  European  and  native  congregations 
in  the  Cape  and  Natal  Colonies,  as  well  as  in  the  two 
Dutch  Republics,  are,  to  a  great  extent,  supported 
by  local  resources.     The  leading   Societies  have,  of 
late  years,  been  paying  special  attention  to  the  train- 
ing of  a  native  ministry,  and  with  some  measure  of 
success.     Meanwhile,  the  languages  of  South  Africa 
have  been  mastered  :  grammars  and  dictionaries  com- 
piled :    and  translations  of  the  Word  of  God  and  of 
other  books  have  been  executed  with   considerable 
ability.     A  small  reading  population  has  been  called 
into  existence,  and  the  civilizing  influences  of  Chris- 
tianity have  been  widely  spread.      The   Wesleyan 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

Mission,  with  which  Mr.  'laylor  came  most  in 
contact,  occupies  fifty-three  Stations,  employs 
sixty -one  Missionaries,  and  reports  ten  thousand  one 
hundred  and  eight  church  members.  It  is  calculated 
that  nearly  sixty  thousand  persons,  including  members 
and  scholars,  are  regular  attendants  on  the  public 
ministry  of  the  Missionaries  of  this  Society.  Other 
Societies  have  equal  reason,  in  the  retrospect  of  their 
labours,  to  thank  God  fc~  the  measure  of  success 
vouchsafed  to  them,  and  to  take  courage  for  the 
future. 

2.  Compared  with  the  accounts  of  the  success  of 
Romish  Missionaries  in  pagan  lands,  the  results  of 
Protestant  Missions  appear  to  disadvantage.  I»'.>t 
Popery  is  satisfied  with  conformity  to  forms  and 
ceremonies.  The  administration  of  baptism  and  a 
professed  assent  to  the  creeds  of  the  Church,  are  its 
main  conditions  of  membership ;  while  Protestant 
Missionaries  are  not  satisfied  without  a  reasonable 
proof  of  genuine  sincerity,  and  of  the  beginnings  at 
least  of  a  spiritual  work.  It  is  possible  that  they  err 
on  the  side  of  scrupulousness,  by  requiring  a  higher 
degree  of  knowledge  and  of  moral  progress  before 
baptism  than  is  absolutely  necessary ;   but  this  is  an 


X  INTRODUCTION 

error  on  the  right  side.  The  increase  of  the  churches 
in  heathendom  must,  under  such  circumstances,  be 
very  slow  in  the  beginning;  but  we  must  not  judge 
of  the  success  of  such  Missions  by  the  paucity  of 
genuine  converts.  This  habit  of  "numbering  the 
people,"  which  was  David's  sin  of  vanity  and  self- 
confidence,  when  applied  to  modern  Missions,  is  a 
temptation  to  certain  minds  to  despair.  We  forget 
the  "  upper  room  "  and  that  "  the  number  of  names 
together  were  about  one  hundred  and  twenty/' 
(Acts  i.  13-15.)  Spiritual  influence  cannot  be  repre- 
sented in  figures.  It  baffles  our  arithmetic.  Half 
a  century  or  more  of  preparation  and  labour  may 
present  few  converts  in  response  to  our  eager  inquiry 
for  results  ;  and  then  we  are  in  danger  of  crying  in 
unbelief,  "  Can  these  dry  bones  live  ?  "  At  such  a 
crisis  it  frequently  occurs,  that  some  man  of  God  is 
raised  up  "  to  prophesy  upon  the  bones,  and  to  cry 
unto  them,  '  0,  ye  dry  bones,  hear  the  word  of 
the  Lord  ; '  "  and  thus  "  a  noise  "  and  "  a  shaking/' 
followed  by  the  breath  of  the  Spirit  infusing  spiritual 
life  into  those  who  had  been  spiritually  dead. 
(Ezek.  xxxvii.)  In  this  mode  of  procedure,  God 
vindicates  His  sovereignty,  teaching  us  that  "  neither 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

is  he  that  planteth  anything,  nor  he  that  watereth : 
but  God  that  giveth  the  increase."  (1  Cor.  i.  37.) 

3.  It  is  no  disparagement  of  Mr.  Taylor's  ser- 
vices, to  apply  to  him  the  words  addressed  by  our 
blessed  Saviour  to  the  disciples  "  And  herein  is  that 
saying  true,  One  soweth  and  another  reapeth.  I 
sent  you  to  reap  that  whereon  ye  bestowed  no  la- 
bour :  other  men  laboured ;  and  ye  are  entered  into 
their  labours."  (John  iv.  37,  38.)  The  toilsome 
and  perhaps  thankless  labours  of  more  than  one  race 
of  Missionaries  had  prepared  the  people  to  under- 
stand and  receive  good  from  the  ministry  of  this 
honoured  servant  of  God,  and  to  God  alone  be  as- 
cribed all  the  glory.  It  is  pleasing  to  observe  the 
cordial  reception  given  by  the  Missionaries  to  this 
stranger  from  afar,  and  their  no  less  hearty  rejoicing 
over  the  results  of  his  ministry.  All  human  littlenesses 
disappeared  in  the  presence  of  these  spiritual  mani- 
festations, which  solemnly  testified  that  Jehovah- 
Christ  was  passing  by ;  "  forgiving  iniquity,  trans- 
gression, and  sin."  (Exodus  xxxiv.  7.)  Mr.  Taylor's 
unassuming  manners,  together  with  his  scrupulous 
delicacy  in  abstaining  from  interfering  in  matters 
properly  the  exclusive  business  of  the  pastors  and 


XU  INTRODUCTION. 

church  officers,  contributed,  no  doubt,  materially  to 
the  ready  acceptance  and  grateful  acknowledgment 
of  his  services.  Ministers  in  general,  honoured  the 
gift  of  God  in  him,  manifesting,  on  this  occasion,  the 
enlarged  sympathy  of  the  great  Jewish  legislator, 
when  he  said : — "  "Would  God  that  all  the  Lord's 
people  were  prophets,  and  that  the  Lord  would  put 
His  Spirit  upon  them."  (Exodus  xi.  29). 

4.  No  one  can  read  the  Notices  of  the  "Wesleyan 
Methodist  Missionary  Society  from  October  1866,  to 
November  1867,  and  the  Annual  Report  for  1866, 
without  being  convinced,  that,  a  great  and  glorious" 
revival  of  religion  has  taken  place  in  South  Africa, 
among  Europeans  and  natives,  and  not  only  among  the 
Methodist  Societies,  but  also  among  other  religious 
bodies.  The  native  work  has  partaken  largely  of 
this  blessed  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  Whilst  be- 
lievers have  been  strengthened  and  confirmed,  the 
careless  have  been  quickened,  sinners  have  been  con- 
vinced of  sin,  and  have  found  peace  with  God.  The 
extraordinary  nature  of  the  work,  the  power  which 
attended  the  preaching,  and  its  immediate  results, 
seem  to  have  affected  even  the  heathen  mind.  It 
appeared  as  if  God  were  speaking  to  them  in  the 


INTRODUCTION.  Xlll 

words  of  the  prophet :  "  Behold  ye  among  the  heathen, 
and  regard  and  wonder  marvellously  :  for  I  will 
work  a  work  in  your  days,  which  ye  will  not  believe, 
though  it  be  told  you."  (Habakkuk  i.  5.)  Revivals 
of  religion  were  not  unknown  in  South  Africa,  but 
hitherto  they  had  been  of  a  local  character ;  this  was 
more  general,  and,  is  we  trust  but  the  beginning  of 
a  great  spiritual  work  which  shall  go  on  until  the 
most  distant  tribes  and  nations  partake  of  the  bless- 
in  !>.  South  Africa  is  one  of  the  most  accessible 
gates  of  entrance  into  a  large  portion  of  the  conti- 
nent. The  prospect  of  extensive  usefulness  in  regions 
far  beyond  our  present  field,  we  regard  as  the  justi 
cation  of  our  large  outlay  on  the  comparatively 
small  population  of  the  Colony  and  its  adjacent 
territory.  Such  were  the  views  and  the  hopes  of  the 
two  great  and  good  men  who  were  the  pioneeis 
of  Wesleyan  Missions  in  South  Africa.  They  knew 
that  in  their  very  nature  they  must  be  aggressive, 
and  that  the  Colonial  and  Frontier  Stations  were  to 
be  regarded  -but  as  stepping-stones  to  the  regions 
beyond.  Barnabas  Shaw  has  gone  to  his  reward. 
"William  Shaw  happily  yet  lives  to  rejoice  in  the 
"  showers  of  blessing  "  which  have  been  poured  out 


XI 7  INTRODUCTION. 

upon  the  thirsty  land  in  which  he  laboured  so  long; 
and  with  so  much  success.  "  A  stranger "  cannot 
"intermeddle  with  his  joy."   (Proverbs  xiv.  10.) 

Honoured  and  devoted  men  are  treading  in  his 
footsteps,  and  to  them,  with  holy  exultation,  we 
would  say,  "  Beloved  brethren,  be  ye  stedfast,  un- 
moveable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labour  is  not  in  vain 
in  the  Lord."     (1  Cor.  xv.  58.) 

"William  B.  Eoycs, 

.London  Wesleyan  Mission  Ii.;us^ 
XoveMtMsr  22,  188?, 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


JAGB 

THE  AUTHOR.  (FRONTISPIECES 

SPECIMENS  OF   THE   KAFFIR  FAIR  SEX     -  18 

THE   LION  AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  NATIVE  33 

CHARLES  PAMLA      -               -                               -  -  13o 

INSTITUTION    AND  CHAPEL  AT  HEALD  TOWN  -  149 

JAMES  ROBERTS        -                                 >  -  219 

M.  STUART   TAYLOR               -  -  225 

AMAPONDO  -                •               -               -                •  r-  346 

TSITSA   FALLS                            -  r  370 

WOMAN    COASTED  BY  WITCH-DOCTORS  •  438 

AMAZULU     -  -  -458 

YOUNG   GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  AMAZULU  -  4G7 

JOHNNY  DAVIS   AND   THE   LION      -                -  -  477 

TOM   PALFREYMAN   AND   THE    TIGER           -  •  482 

REV.   MR.   BUTLER  AND  THE  ALLIGATOR  -  430 

CAPTAIN   NGOYA,   IN   NATIVE  HEATHEN    DRESS  -  493 


CONTESTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PROVIDENTIAL    MISSION    TO    SOUTH    AFRICA. 


*•*» 


The  author  leaves  California.  Lahours  as  an  evangelist  in 
most  of  the  United  States  and  Canadas.  Visits  England, 
Ireland,  Asia  Minor,  Palestine,  Egypt.  Lahours  nearly 
three  years  in  the  Australias,  New  Zealand,  and  Tasma- 
nia. Dr.  James  Brown.  Dr.  A.  Moffatt.  Author's  trip 
to  Wallaroo.  Rev  Mr.  Flockhart.  Startling  telegram. 
Glad  tidings.  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell.  His  undying  energy. 
His  death.  His  widow.  Rev.  C.  T.  Newman.  Evil 
tidings.  Church  opening  at  the  "  Moonta."  Hasty  re- 
treat. Voyage  to  Sydney.  Author  meets  his  family. 
Touching  scenes.  Watches  a  sick  son  at  the  gates  of 
death  for  many  weary  weeks.  Returns  to  South  Australia. 
Sails  for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Rev.  James  Calvert. 
Safe  arrival.  Parkes'  Hotel.  Rev.  John  Thomas.  Rov, 
Samuel  Hardey    ......      \.i\ 

CHAPTER  IL 

CAPE    COLONY. 

Synoptical  History  of  the  Colony.   Population.    The  Dutch. 
The   English.     The  Malays.     The  Hottentots  and  Bas- 
ards.    The  Kaffirs.    The  Fin  goes.    Government  of  the 
Colony      ----...   12-25 


11  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 

CAPE    TOWN. 

Its  topoerapby,  surrounding  scenery.  Population.  Insti- 
tutions. Churches.  Sir  George  Grey.  Rev.  A.  Murray, 
Junior.  Historic  reminiscences.  Henry  Reed,  Esq.  His 
Malay  boatman.  His  detention  in  Cape  Town.  His  ad- 
ventures in  Small-pox  Hospital.  Mrs.  Gunn's  boarding- 
house.  Reed's  interview  with  Rev.  Mr.  Hodgson.  The 
native  Christian  hero  and  the  lion.  Author's  first  Sab- 
bath in  Cape  Town.  Sunday-school  Anniversary.  Mr. 
Filmer's  speech.  Special  services  in  Cape  Town,  and  re- 
sults.    Rev.  Wm,  Impey.     Voyage  to  Port  Elizabeth     -    26-37 


CHAPTER  IV. 

POUT    ELIZABETH. 

Rev.  John  Richards.  Roman  Catholic  Church  opening. 
Independent  minister  installed.  Too  late  for  posters. 
The  chapel.  Visit  among  the  shops.  Incredulous  laugh 
of  the  Local  Preacher.  Mr.  Sidney  Hill.  Series  of  ser- 
vices, with  facts  and  incidents.  Preaching  in  Court- 
house Square.  Wayside  illustrations.  The  old  Califor- 
nian  and  his  story.  Joseph  Tale,  the  tall  Kaffir.  Preach- 
ing to  the  natives.     Calls  from  the  interior  •  -    38-47 

CHAPTER  V. 

V11XXHJJ&*. 

Jones's  carriage  and  pair.  Travelling  companions.  The 
beard  question.  Captain  George  Appleby.  Rev.  Purdon 
Smailes.  Wool-washing  on  the  Zwart  Kops  River. 
Dutch  Reformed  Church.  Rev.  Mr.  Steytler.  A  chapel 
ready  for  the  "moles  and  bats."  Services  in  the  Dutch 
Church.  Plan  of  conducting  a  prayer-meeting.  The 
dash  of  the  Dutchman.  "  Satan  is  getting  more  polite 
each  day  of  our  meeting."  Preaching  to  the  Kaffirs  in  a 
wood-shed.     Post-cart  travelling  -  48-61 


CONTENTS.  lii 

Page 

CHAPTER  VL 

Graham's  town. 

History,  topography,  churches,  population,  &c.  "Com- 
memoration Chapel."  Mr.  W.  A.  Richards.  Hon.  R. 
Godlonton.  Rev.  W.  J.  Davis.  Rev.  G.  H.  Green. 
"Horse  sickness."  Opening  of  the  campaign.  Disap- 
pointment of  the  friends.  Removing  hindrances.  Venti- 
lating the  chapel.  "  Brother  A  twill."  "  The  Apollos  of 
South  Africa."  "Caed  mela  faltha."  Christian  states- 
men. The  widow  Ayliff  and  her  tall  sons.  "  Old  Brother 
Sparks"  •  -.....    62-74 

cnAPTER  vn. 

Graham's  town  (continued). 

Review  of  the  series  of  three  weeks.  Fellowship-meeting. 
Rev.  Mr.  Holford.  Illustrative  facts  and  incidents. 
Celebration  of  the  Queen's  birthday.  "  Mr.  Taylor,  I 
have  come  to  ask  your  pardon  for  what  I  have  been 
thinking  ahout  you."  "  The  right  impulse  at  the  right 
moment."  Getting  off  the  old  Jewish  track  of  "going 
about  to  establish  their  own  righteousness  "  into  the  only 
way  of  salvation.    The  Sergeant's  long  struggle.    Sudden 

conversions.     Sir    D and    the    barber.      Preaching 

through  an  interpreter.     Mr.  D.  Penn.     Seventy  miles 
journey    •  ......    75-87 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

king  William's  town. 

The  old  pioneer,  Rev.  John  Brownlie.  Wesleyan  Chapel. 
Rev.  J.  Fish.  A  Colonial  audience.  "  Bar  of  reserve 
and  prejudice  broken  down."  The  missionary's  account 
of  the  work.  "  A  Kaffir  came  running  with  the  message 
that  four  missionaries  were  in  '  the  path.'  "  Rev.  John 
Scott.  Rev.  Robert  Lamplough,  and  his  Kaffir  preachers. 
Rev.  Brother  Sawtell  and  his  Fin  goes.     Charles  Pamla. 


!V  CONTENTS. 


P*S* 


letter  to  Mr.  Impey.  Rev.  J.  W.  Appleyard  and  his 
Kaflir  Bible.  George  Impey,  Esq.,  and  his  dying  tri- 
umphs. Rev.  Mr.  Hillier,  his  success,  his  sudden  death. 
Mr.  Joseph  Walker.  Kaffirs  mounted  on  young  bullocks. 
Journeying  incidents      -----    83-107 


CHAPTER   IX. 

ANNSHAW. 

Chief  Kama  and  his  Kaffirs.  Mr.  Shaw's  mission  among 
them.  Rev.  Wm.  Sargent.  Kama's  refusal  to  take  a 
second  wife.  His  piety  and  courage.  Kaffir  huts.  "  Bro- 
ther Lamplough  gave  me  Charles  to  interpret  for  me." 
Private  lecture  on  "naturalness."  Lights  and  scenes  of 
the  first  service.  Grandeur  of  the  night  service.  Hymn 
and  tune  put  into  Kaffir  on  the  first  hearing.  "  Don't 
bend  them  off  to  the  river  to  battle  with  Satan  alone, 
and  take  a  bad  cold  as  well."  Stirring  scenes.  Glorious 
results.  Mr.  Harper.  Trip  to  Lovedale.  Rev.  J.  Wil- 
son. Fort  Beaufort.  Good  tidings  from  Annshaw. 
Lamplough's  reports.  Illustrative  incidents.  The  hea- 
then lame  man.  The  old  heathen  convert  and  his  two 
wives.  "  Our  last  stroke  is  being  levelled  against  Kaffir 
beer."  Witnesses  for  Jesus.  How  the  deaf  and  dumb 
testified.  How  the  heathen  try  to  explain  it.  Persecu- 
tions     -------  108-135 


CHAPTER  X. 

FORT    BEAUFORT. 

Population  and  surroundings.  Rev.  John  Wilson.  Strong 
force  from  Graham's  Town.  Specimens  of  the  work  of 
the  Spirit.     "A  sacrifice,  indeed?     Why,  it's  a  glorious 

riddance!  "     Mrs.  D changed  her  mind.     Mr.  James 

Roberts,  a  man  of  Providence  for  Kaffrarian  adventures. 
"  Wars  in  the  path."  Missionary's  report  of  the  work  as 
"  great  and  glorious."  Work  among  the  natives.  "  That 
shawl!  that  shawl  1"     -  -  -136-148 


CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER  XL 

HEALD    TOWN. 


»«• 


"  Industrial  School."  Governor  Grey.  Rev.  "Win.  Sargent. 
Rev.  John  Ayliff.  Theological  Institution.  Rev.  Win. 
Impey.  Rev.  R.  Lamplough.  Mission  press.  The  mon- 
keys by  the  way.  Mr.  T.  Templer.  Barnabas.  Siko 
Radas.  The  marriage.  The  sermon.  The  missionary  in 
his  report  of  that  day  says,  "  What  a  day  !  I  know  not 
how  to  record  it ! "  Second  day  greater  than  the  first. 
"  I  realized  by  faith,  on  that  occasion,  what  I  never  can 
explain."  "  If  you  know  all  this  time  that  black  fellow 
going  to  hell,  why  you  no  tell  black  fellow  till  now  ?  " 
Caring  for  the  lambs.  "Satan  is  conquered,"  &c.  "My 
Father  has  set  me  free,"  &c.  Marvellous  results.  Con- 
tinued progress.  T.  Templer' s  poem.  Permanency  of  the 
work      .......  149. 177 


CHAPTER  XII. 

i. 

SOMERSET    EAST. 

Journey.  Adelaide.  Rev.  P.  Davidson.  The  Dutch  "  Nag- 
mal."  Benjamin  Trollip  and  his  son.  Bedford.  Mr. 
Francis  King.  Rev.  Mr.  Solomon.  King's  adventures 
among  the  "  Bushmen."  "  Dig  away,  you'll  find  plenty 
of  honey  in  there  !  "  "I  was  awakened  by  something  cold 
touching  my  toe."  Rev.  John  Edwards.  Rev.  Wm. 
Shaw.  R.  Hart,  Esq.  "  Government  Farm."  Large 
circuit.  Mr.  Nash.  Mr.  Burch.  Work  among  the 
whites  and  natives.  Remarkable  narrative  of  missionary 
adventures,  from  Rev.  J.  Edwards.  Daniel,  the  Fingo 
Prophet-  ......  178-191 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

CRADOCX. 

Mr.  Sargent,  senior.     "  Dagga  Boer."    The  Trollip  family. 
The  rebel  Hottentots.   Prejudices  against  the  native  races. 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Page 
Kaffir  fidelity.  Dr.  Adam  Clarke's  prayer.  Rev.  W. 
Chapman.  Cradock.  Dutch  formers.  Rev.  John  Taylor. 
Hon.  Henry  Tucker,  M.L.C.  Hon.  Samuel  Cawood, 
M.L.C.  John  and  William  Webb.  Mr.  H.  Park.  Jack, 
the  Kaffir.  The  Gospel  preached  in  three  languages  at 
once.     Glorious  results  -----  192-205 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
queen's  town. 

Journeying  with  Brother  Tucker.  Mr.  Hines.  "  Tarkiss- 
taat."  Queen's  Town.  Rev.  H.  H.  Dugmore.  Governor 
Cathcart's  generosity.  Messrs.  Shaw,  Barnes,  Elliott, 
and  Jakins.  "  Joyful  tidings  to  write  to  my  sister  in 
Tasmania."  The  blind  widow  and  her  sons.  Dugmore's 
preaching  on  "  The  American  Preacher."  Lesseyton. 
Rev.  J.  Bertram.  Wm.  Bambana,  "  the  head  man." 
"  Dear  me,  this  is  horrible  !  Here  are  hundreds  of  thirsty 
souls,  and  I  can't  tell  them  how  to  come  to  the  river ! " 
James  Roberts.  M.  Stuart  Taylor.  Charles  Pamla. 
Tidings  from  Annshaw.  Fellowship-meeting.  John 
Weekly.  Wm.  Trollip,  twenty  years  a  seeker,  and 
thirty  years  a  Christian.     A  soldier's  courage  tried       -  206-223 

CHAPTER  XV 

KAMASTOXE. 

Rev.  Wm.  Shepstone.  Moonlight  stroll  with  Stuart.  Kaffir 
pony  for  Stuart.  Description  of  the  audience.  Remark- 
able scenes.  "  I  never  knew  that  I  was  such  a  sinner  till 
the  Holy  Ghost  shined  into  me."  "  0,  I  felt  nasty." 
"  Walked  forty-six  miles  to  get  to  this  meeting."  "  She 
se<?ms  to  be  a  near  relation  to  the  antediluvians." 
Perfect  loyalty,  faith,  and  love  preached  to  Kaffirs.  The 
"ivy  "and  "milkwood"  illustration.  Effect  of  Pamla's 
address  on  Mr.  Shepstone.  Report  of  the  numbers 
saved.  Great  baptismal  service  for  saved  heathen.  Mis- 
sionary's report  of  progress.  "  0  mother,  my  dear 
mother,  I  have  found  Jesus ! "  -  -224-241 


CONTENTS.  Vli 

Page 

CHAPTER  XVL 

LESSEYTON. 

Interpreter  lost  in  the  scrub.  First  night's  sendee,  and 
lodgings  with  a  native.  Wonderful  scenes  of  the  next  day. 
A  heathen  woman  shouting  the  praises  of  God.  The  for- 
given Kaffir  who  could  not  forgive  himself.  Bambana's 
two  sons.  "  I  went  away  and  left  the  oxen,  wagon,  and 
precious  cargo  standing  in  the  road."  "  We  have  heard 
of  washing  the  disciples'  feet,  and  of  kissing  the  Pope's 
toe ;  but  to  kiss  the  sole  of  a  Kaffir's  boot  is  a  new  idea." 
"  The  milk  is  good,  and  you  have  given  us  a  great  feast." 
Starting  for  Kaffraria.  Dugmore's  letters  reporting  the 
advance  of  the  armies  of  the  Lord  in  Queen's  Town, 
Lesseyton,  &c.  -  -  -  -    242-250 

CHAPTER  XVH. 


J.  C.  Warner,  Esq.  "  British  Resident  for  Kaffraria.*' 
Warner  and  Shepstone  on  the  true  principle  on  which  to 
establish  Mission  Stations.  ("  Likaka  laba  Fasi.")  Both 
sides  of  the  questiou  fairly  stated.  Long  day's  journey. 
Travelling  in  the  dark.  "A  sudden  jolt  sent  us  both  over 
the  '  larboard,'  head  foremost  down  the  hill."  Rev.  E.  J. 
Barrett.  Campaign  of  one  day  in  the  open  air,  and  its 
results.  Chief  Matanzima  among  the  seekers.  Fellow- 
ship meeting  in  a  stable.  The  man  who  saw  a  great  light, 
could  not  pass.  "  The  devil  ordered  his  Hottentot  servant 
to  make  off  with  the  goat  to  Krielie's  country."  Colonel 
Barker  at  the  Tsomo.  Captain  Cobb.  "  The  road  rough 
and  dangerous."    •  -  -  •  •  251-268 

CHAPTER  XVni. 

BUTrEHWORTH    (iGEUWA). 

Rev.  W.  Shaw.  Rev.  Mr.  Shrewsbury.  The  great  chief 
Hintza.     "A  cake  of  bread  from  the  house  of  Kauta." 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

Pag* 

Conspiracy  against  Rev.  John  Ayliff.  Revs.  Davis  and 
Palmer  come  to  his  rescue.  The  "  great  wife  "  Nomsa. 
"Sing  again."  "If  he  remains  he  might  ti-amp  on  a 
snake  in  the  grass."  Destruction  and  re-establishment  of 
the  mission-station.  Chief  Krielie.  Great  drought. 
Protracted  meeting  of  the  rain-makers.  "  No  rain  while 
the  missionaries  were  allowed  to  remain  in  the  country." 
Davis  took  the  hull  by  the  horns.  "Stop  all  this  non- 
sense,— come  to  chapel  next  Sabbath  and  we'll  pray  to 
God  to  give  us  rain,  and  we  will  see  who  is  the  true  God, 
and  who  are  His  true  servants."  Station  "  destroyed  the 
third  time.  Chief  Krielie's  "  daring  desperate  plan  for 
forcing  his  people  into  an  exterminating  war  against  the 
Colonists."  Sir  George  Grey's  great  bread  victory. 
Mission  established  the  fourth  time.  Rev.  John  Longden. 
Description  of  the  congregation  b)'  the  river-side.  "What 
has  that  old  red  blanket  to  say  for  himself?"  "Loaves 
and  fishes"  needed  for  the  hungry  multitude.  "Brother 
Longden  told  the  father  that  if  he  meant  to  sell  his 
daughter  to  the  heathen,  he  must  at  once  leave  the  sta- 
tion." The  great  snake-killer.  He  "  chose  rather  to  re- 
tain his  skull  for  his  own  personal  use."  Umaduna.  "A 
martyr-spirit  under  a  sheepskin."  »  •  269-290 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

CLARKEBURY    (uMGWALl). 

W.  Shaw's  visit  to  the  great  chief  Vossanie.  Rev.  Mr. 
praddy.  Mr.  Rawlins  killed.  Massacre  of  Rev.  J.  S. 
Thomas.  Chief  Vadana's  expedition  to  seize  Mr.  Davis 
dinner-pot.  "  Well,  this  is  a  strange  thing.  Here's  a  man 
who  is  not  afraid  to  die !  "  Rev.  Peter  Hargraves  and  his 
wife.  Rev.  Edwin  Gedye  in  exile.  Mr.  Joseph  Walker. 
Mr.  Crouch.  H.  B.  Warner.  Great  chief  Ngangelizwe. 
"  They  are  determined  to  have  a  heathen  chief  to  rule  over 
them,  and  I'll  let  them  feel  the  power  of  a  heathen  chief." 
"  He  threw  an  assegai  through  the  arm  of  one  of  them." 
"  Go  home,  and  sit  down  in  peace,  and  take  all  your  cattle, 
I  don't  want  them."    "  The  cavalry  of  the  train  consistip*j 


CONTENTS.  IX 

Page 

of  about  forty  councillors,  fell  into  line,  single  file,  the 
chief  being  about  the  middle."  Prince  TJsiqukati. 
Preaching  to  the  great  chief  and  his  councillors.  H.  B. 
Warner's  appeal  to  them.  Kaffir  proposition  to  unite 
Church  and  State.  King  Thackenbau  of  Fiji,  and  King 
George  of  the  Friendly  Islands, — illustrative  examples. 
Rev.  Peter  Turner,  the  apostle.  Pamla's  grand  talk  to 
the  chiefs.  Ngang  ^lizwe's  child  dying.  "  The  chief  must 
return  to  the  Great  Place  at  once."  Striking  testimonies 
in  the  fellowship-meeting.  "  Isikunisivutayo."  "  My 
heart  was  as  tough  as  the  hide  of  a  rhinoceros."  Mr. 
Wm.  Davis.  Rev.  Wm.  Hunter,  D.D.  "The  Eden 
above."     "  Icula  Eliteta  Ngelizwe  eli  Pezulu."     -  291-321 


CHAPTER  XX. 

MORLEY  (iNCANASEUE). 

Rev.  Wm.  Shepstone.  The  invasion  of  the  bloody  chief 
Qeta,  a  deserter  from  his  more  bloody  master  Chaka,  the 
great  Zulu.  Shepstone's  narrow  escape.  The  Amapondo 
chief,  Faku.  Rev.  Mr.  Palmer.  Mission  re-established 
under  Rev.  Wm.  B.  Rayner.  "Smelling  out."  J.  C. 
Warner,  Esq.  on  "  Kaffir  laws  and  customs."  Witchcraft 
and  the  witch-doctors.  Different  methods  of  torturing 
witches  and  wizards.  Man  roasted  for  thirty-six  hours. 
The  ant-eaten  woman.  "  We  can't  kill  such  a  witch !  She 
won't  die ! "  Out-door  preaching  scene.  Chief  Ndunyela, 
with  his  warriors  and  wives  at  preaching.  How  they  de- 
voured the  bullock.  Missionaries'  report  of  the  work. 
Horrible  case  of  "  smelling  out "  and  torture  after  the 
revival.      ......  322-341 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

BUNTINGVILLE ICTME. 

Rev.  Wm.  B.  Boyce.  "  We  eat  the  dogs  to  make  us  more 
fierce  and  powerful  in  battle."  Boyce' s  Kaffir  Grammar. 
"Euphonic    concord."      Theophilus    Shepstone.      Cnief 


X  CONTENTS. 

Faku's  plan  for  getting  rain.  Mr.  Fainton.  Rev.  Mr. 
Satchell.  Rev.  James  Cameron.  Rev.  Thomas  Jenkins. 
New  Buntingville.  Rov.  \Vm.  Hunter.  Dahveed's  "  new 
road."  Umtata  Drift.  "  Pezulu !  pezulu!  pczulu!"  Chief 
Damasi  and  his  division  of  the  Pondos.  Chief  Vava  and 
his  marriage  feast.  The  chief  and  his  warriors  at  preach- 
ing. Visit  to  Damasi's  "  Great  Place."  The  chief,  his 
hut,  his  wives,  his  rojral  rohes  and  tiger's  tails,  his  cattle 
kraal,  his  bloody  "  cliff."  How  a  neighbouring  chief  took 
down  our  "  umfundisi."  Damasi's  war  with  Chief  Um- 
hlonhlo  allowed  "  to  sit  still  a  little  while,"  during  Urn- 
hlonhlo's  marriage.  Damasi's  hospitality.  Lodgings  in  a 
Kaffir  hut.  Preaching  at  the  "  Great  Place."  Penitent 
meeting  in  the  hut.     Traders  and  Kaffirs  sa^ed.  -  342-360 

CHAPTER   XXII. 

6HAWBURT ELUNCUTA. 

Beauty  of  6cenery.  Rev.  Wm,  H.  Garner.  Dreadful  war 
complications  involving  the  mission.  Escape  of  the  mis- 
sionary and  his  family.  Rev.  Mr.  Solomon.  Demoraliza- 
tion of  the  mission  people.  Kaffir  beer-feasts.  How  we 
got  through  the  lines  of  Umhlonhlo's  wan-iors,  and  across 
the  Tsitsa  Drift  in  the  dark.  Rev.  C.  White.  First 
great  audience,  and  the  preaching.  Small  audiences  and 
hard  work.  Visit  to  the  Tsitsa  Falls.  Kaffir-corn 
"  holes."  Serious  case  to  be  settled.  Kaffir  lawyers, 
Elijah  and  Job.  The  cause  debated,  bringing  out  start- 
ling developments,  and  important  issues.  "  Ah,  if  we  had 
had  that  counsel  on  the  first  day  of  our  series  here,  instead 
of  the  last,  we  would  have  had  a  glorious  work  of  God !  " 
The  great  work  of  God  which  followed.    -  -  3G1-383 

CHAPTER  XXin 

OSliORN — TSHUMGWANA. 

Rev.  Mr.  Hulley.  Rev.  Charles  White.  Amabaca  tribe. 
Pondo  invasion  under  chief  Umgikela.     Chiefs  Tiba,  and 


CONTENTS  Xi 

Pag* 
Makaula.  Dreadful  slaughter  of  the  Pondos  near  the 
mission.  "  These  men  have  placed  their  lives  in  my  hands, 
and  if  you  "want  them  you  will  have  to  pass  over  my  dead 
body."  "  You  are  both  liars  ;  neither  of  you  killed  me  ! " 
"  Do  please  let  me  lie  still  and  die."  Stuart's  description 
of  the  route  from  Shawbury  to  Tshumgwana.  "  Bring 
out  all  your  men,  women,  and  children,  and  we  will 
sing  you  a  song  about  the  country  above."  St.  Paul's 
method  of  preaching  to  heathen.  Bringing  heathen 
Kaffirs  to  an  acceptance  of  Christ  under  a  single  dis- 
course. Specimen  of  the  preaching  God  thus  owned  in 
saving  raw  heathens.  A  sermon.  Its  immediate  results. 
Specimen  extracts  of  another  sermon,  showing  the  ana- 
logical points  between  Kaffirism  and  Judaism.  Text  the 
last  day,  "  Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve." 
Points  of  analogy  between  Kaffir  superstitions  and  sacri- 
fices, and  the  service  of  the  true  God.  Testimony  of  113 
witnesses.  "  I  asked  God  for  a  great  gift,  and  He  showed 
me  my  sins."  "  I  had  an  old  shield  full  of  holes."  Great 
harvest  of  souls.    -----  384-430 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

EMFUNDISWENI. 

Stuart's  description  of  the  route  from  Tshumgwana.  Rev. 
Thomas  Jenkins  and  his  wife.  Rev.  Daniel  Eva.  Adven- 
tures of  Mr.  Jenkins  in  Pondo-land  for  thirty  years.  At 
a  district  meeting,  150  miles  from  home,  he  learns  that 
the  Zulu  warriors  have  swept  the  country,  and  that  his 
family  was  slain.  Perilous  adventures.  "  The  Umfundisi 
is  killed  !  "  "I  will  not  fly !  I  am  in  the  Lord's  hands ; 
if  He  delivers  me  to  the  Pondos,  they  shall  kill  me  in  my 
own  house !  "  "Witchcraft  as  seen  by  Jenkins.  "  The 
exterminating  decree  was  so  terrible,  that  not  even  a  dog 
was  allowed  to  escape."  A  woman  roasted.  Influence 
of  the  Gospel  on  Witchcraft.  Sanctuary  for  the  vic- 
tims of  the  witch-doctors.  Eaku's  mother.  Faku's  great 
wife.  "The  witch-doctors  make  it  out  that  he  died  through 
the  Word  of  God."     "  My  Umfundisi,  you  have  saved 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

Fat* 

Cingo !  He  shall  not  be  killed !  "  Debasing  effects 
of  Heathenism  on  the  Mind.  "  If  there  is  a  God  why 
can't  we  see  Him?"  Favourable  change  within  thirty 
years.  Polygamy.  "She  bit  the  other  woman's  nose 
right  off!"  "I  wish  I  had  no  wife  at  all !  "  Contrast 
between  the  state  of  the  Pondo  nation  twenty-five  years 
ago  and  its  present  state.  "  I  am  going  to  the  King 
above!"  "The  assegai  dropped  from  his  hand,  for  tne 
Holy  Spirit's  two-edged  Bword  was  piercing  him." 
"  When  God  gave  me  a  new  heart  I  vowed  to  Him  that  I 
never  would  kill  another  man."  Special  services.  Sir. 
Alfred  White.  Visit  to  Palmcrton  or  "  Izala."  Rev. 
John  Allsop.  Return  to  Emfundisweni.  "  I  now  saw 
that  God  would  answer  my  prayer  indirectly,  by  giving 
my  mantle  to  my  Elisha."  "  In  spite  of  the  devil  and 
his  heathen  host  a  grand  victory  for  God  was  achieved." 
Dismal  journey  to  "  Kok's  Camp."  "  Roberts,  we  have 
got  into  Nomansland  sure."  "  While  we  were  trying  to 
dry  one  side  the  other  was  getting  wet  with  the  fast  fall- 
ing rain."  Preaching  at  "  Kok's  Camp."  Trip  across 
the  "  Zuurberg."  "Alfredia."  "  Ulbricht's."  "Blom's." 
Preaching  in  Hulley's  "  Hut  Chapel."  Mr.  Hancock  and 
family.  Adventures  in  crossing  the  Umkomas  river  in 
the  night.  "  Our  man  of  Providence."  "  Your  horses 
have  fallen  into  the  ditch !  "  "  Indaleni."  Rev.  W.  H. 
Milward.  Pietermaritzburg,  Natal.  Pamla's  arrival. 
Report  of  his  labours  at  Indaleni.  Review  of  the  situa- 
tion at  Emfundisweni.  "My  children,  you  have  done 
right !  Go  and  sit  down  in  peace !  We  want  to  remove 
to  that  part  and  be  converted  also  as  you  have  been ! " 
"  When  Jenkins  gets  to  heaven  he  won't  stay  there  with- 
out me ! "  "  If  my  blessed  Jesus  is  coming,  I  can't  wait 
for  anybody !  "  "  Some  of  the  heathen  chiefs  have  ex- 
pressed a  strong  desire  for  Charles  to  come  and  visit 
them"        •  ...  431-464 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

NATAL. 

Geographical  position.     Climate.     Productions.     Various 


CONTENTS.  Xlii 

Page 
industrial  purs  lits.  Population.  Revenue  and  appropria- 
tions of  Government.  Missions.  Schools.  Pietermaritz- 
burg  the  capital.  Edendale  and  its  beautiful  surround- 
ings. D'Urban  and  the  "  Berean  Hill."  Verulam. 
Ministerial  helpers  in  Natal.  "  I  commended  my  sable 
brother  to  the  missionaries,  and  bespoke  for  him  an  open- 
field  and  a  fair  fight."  Bishop  Colenso.  Grand  rally  of 
the  hosts  on  both  sides.  The  Lord's  glorious  victory. 
Ppomiscuous  Examples  of  Natal  Adventures.  Colenso's 
attempt  to  popularize  the  Gospel  to  the  Kaffirs.  Trying 
to  astonish  the  natives.  "  Wondering  all  the  time  why 
the  man  did  not  put  his  shirt  inside  of  his  trousers  !  " 
Charming  a  Hon  with  music.  Colenso's  ark  taken  down 
by  a  Kaffir.  Tom  Palfreyman  and  the  tiger.  The  Dutch- 
man and  his  Holland  Bible.  Rev.  Mr.  Butler  and  the 
alligator.  The  lawyer  and  his  advocate.  Theory  of  the 
wiseacres.  George  C.  Cato,  Esq.  Colenso's  call  at  Mr. 
Grant's.  Francis  Harvey,  Sen.  "  Open  there,  right  and 
left,  and  let  his  Majesty's  brave  tars  come  near  me." 
Bishop  Colenso  and  the  "  Local  Preacher  in  the  Wesleyan 
Establishment."  "  Saw  ye  Him  whom  my  Soul  loveth  ?" 
Harvey's  contrasts  between  the  effects  of  Colenso's 
preaching  and  the  saving  power  of  the  Spirit  at  the 
special  services.  Incidents  of  the  work  in  Verulam. 
Charles  and  the  heathen  man  at  Inanda.  "  Jim,  believe 
sharp ! "  Roman  Catholic  saved.  F.  B.  Fynney's  con- 
version. J.  W.  Stranack's  account  of  his  scepticism, 
conversion,  and  call  to  the  ministry  -  •  465-604 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  MISSION-WORK  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

Voyage  from  Natal  to  Cape  Town.  Mr.  James  Roberts. 
Letter  written  on  the  voyage.  Rev.  Barnabas  Shaw. 
Rev.  "William  Shaw.  Wesleyan  Missions  in  South  Africa. 
Base  line  and  depot  of  supplies.  Old  plan  of  establishing 
Mission  Stations.  The  new  development.  Kaffir  popula- 
iion.  Providential  indications  in  favour  of  the  new  plan 
proposed.     Evangelical  platform,   Gospel  facts,  and  our 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

F.g. 

demonstration  of  them  in  South  Africa.  Apostolic 
plan.  Ineffectiveness  of  modern  methods.  How  to  carry 
out  Apostolic  methods.  Kaffir  standard  of  ministerial 
education.  Where  is  the  money  to  come  from  ?  "  I've  a 
share  in  the  concern."  "  Hard  work,  hard  fare,  and  a 
martyr's  crown  if  they  can  win  it."  Mr.  George  Cato's 
question.  Heroic  type  of  Christianity.  "They  would 
die  for  Jesus  as  cheerfully  as  the  martyrs  of  the  Apostolic 
age."     Ultimate  effects     -  505-519 


CHAPTER  XXVn. 

REVIEW  OF  THE  W011K  AND    IT8    PROGRESS   TO    THE    PRESENT    T1M1 

Rev.  Thomas  Guard's  letter.  Graham's  Town,  Queen's 
Town,  Somerset,  Cradock,  Fort  Beaufort.  "Annshaw 
heads  the  list."  Missionary's  report  of  the  numher 
saved  in  Kama's  tribe.  Success  of  the  Annshaw  workers. 
Triumphal  procession.  Red  heathen's  conversion  and 
testimony.  Report  from  Chairman  of  Queen's  Town 
District.  "  It  was  I  who  stole  the  thatch."  "  Take  them 
off  !  take  them  off !  "  He  would  have  no  praying  in  his 
family."  "  The  old  grey-headed  polygamist."  Report  of 
Rev.  J.  Cameron,  Chairman  of  Natal  District.  Young 
evangelists.  Rev.  Ralph  Stott's  letter.  Rev.  R.  Hayes's 
letter.  Rev.  H.  S.  Barton's  report.  Tabular  view  of 
Graham's  Town  and  Queen's  Town  districts.  Statistical 
grand  total.  Indications  of  progress  in  Kaffraria,  given 
by  Rev.  P.  Hargraves.  H.  B.  Warner's  success.  New 
Mission  at  the  Tsomo.  Emfundisweni.  Progress  of  the 
work  in  Natal.  Thomas  Garland.  J.  W  Stranack. 
F.  B.  Fynney  and  his  follows  among  the  Zulus.  "I  came 
and  found,  ah,  alligators !"  Snake  transmigration.  Fyn- 
ney at  the  American  Mission  Station.  Work  at  TJmhlali. 
The  old  toper  reformed.  Rev.  F.  Kirkby.  The  dying 
Zulu  maid.  "  The  wagon  is  coming  to  fetch  me."  Re- 
ports from  Graham's  Town  District.  W.  A.  Richards. 
Rev.  W.  J.  Davis.  Anniversary  revival  services.  "  Tis 
•worth  living  for,  this."     Rev.  R.  Lamplough  on  his  new 


CONTENTS.  XV 

circuit.  "Disappointing  business  to  my  dear  Brother 
Lamplough."  Charles  Pamla.  Chief  Maxwayana  and 
his  two  converted  wives.  Pamla's  visit  to  Heald  Town. 
His  great  success  in  Newtondale.  Heathen  objections 
against  him.  How  he  battled  for  the  truth  at  the  "  Great 
Place"  of  Chief  Fundakube.  The  Chief's  decision. 
Pamla's  triumph.  "In  the  habitation  of  dragons  were 
each  by,"  there  is  "  grass  with  reeds  and  rushes."  The 
F.nd  ••••••  620567 


CHRISTIAN  ADVENTURES 

IN 

SOUTH    AFRICA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

rilOVIDENTIAL   MISSION   TO   SOUTH   AFRICA. 

My  mission  to  South  Africa  was  purely  the  result  of 
a  providential  arrangement  quite  outside  of  my  own 
previous  plans. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  year  1856,  under  a  leave  of 
absence  from  the  California  Conference,  to  which 
from  its  organization  I  belonged,  and  of  which  I  am 
still  a  member,  I  commenced  a  tour  of  evangelistic 
labours  in  the  Eastern,  and  then  in  the  Western 
States  of  America,  and  then  into  the  Canadas,  which 
I  continued  for  five  years.  In  the  winter  of  1861, 
while  labouring  in  Peterborough,  Canada  West, 
I  met  with  Dr.  James  Brown,  who  had  spent 
several  years  in  Australia.  Through  Dr.  Brown's 
persuasive  agency,  and  subsequent  indications,  to 
my  mind  unmistakably  Divine,  I  felt  it  my 
duty   to   visit  the  Australian    Colonies,   and    assist 

3 


£' 


2  PROVIDENTIAL    MISSION    TO   SOUTH    AFRICA. 

the  churches  in  those  antipodal  regions  in  the 
prosecution  of  their  great  work.  When  I  sailed 
for  Australia,  my  family,  from  their  own  preference, 
returned  to  their  home  in  California.  I  spent  seven 
months  in  England  and  Ireland,  made  a  tour  round 
the  coasts  of  Asia  Minor  and  Syria,  explored  Pales- 
tine, and  passing  on  through  Egypt  took  steam  by 
the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Company's  line  at  Suez 
for  Ceylon  and  Melbourne,  so  that  nearly  a  whole 
year  was  spent  en  route  from  New  York  to  Mel- 
bourne. The  first  year  of  my  labours  in  Australia 
was  devoted  to  the  Colonies  of  Victoria  and  Tasma- 
nia ;  the  second  year  to  New  South  Wales,  Queens- 
land, and  New  Zealand  ;  and  six  months  of  the  third, 
to  South  Australia. 

During  the  term  of  my  labours  in  New  South 
"Wales,  my  friend,  Dr.  A.  Moffitt,  of  Sidney,  often 
tried  to  persuade  me  to  visit  South  Africa.  He 
had  spent  six  years  on  the  east  and  west  coast  as 
surgeon  in  her  Majesty's  ship  of  war,  Penguin.  He 
had  become  well  acquainted  with  missionary  opera- 
tions in  those  parts,  and  felt  a  great  interest  in 
their  success,  and  believing  that  I  could  render  them 
essential  service,  he  was  importunate  in  his  entrea- 
ties. I  could  only  reply,  that  "  however  great  my 
interest  in  African  missionary  movements,  I  cannot 
go  ;  there  is  no  steam  communication  direct  from 
Australia  to  Cape  Town,  and  but  few  opportunities 
by  sailing  vessels  ;  moreover,  I  have  to  consider  the 
claims  of  my  Conference,    and  my  family  in  Cali- 


PROVIDENTIAL    LEADINGS.  8 

fornia,  and  my  limited  time  for  foreign  evangelical 
work.  These  things  together  utterly  preclude  mv 
going  to  Africa." 

The  Doctor,  however,  maintained  that  it  was  his 
firm  belief  that  God  would,  in  His  providence,  send 
me  to  Africa. 

"  Very  well/'  I  replied,  "  whenever  I  get  an  order 
from  Him  to  go  to  Africa,  I  will  be  off  by  the  first 
ship  His  providence  may  provide." 

I  had  not  seen  my  dear  wife  and  children  for  more 
than  three  years — the  time  required  for  a  cruise  by 
the  men  who  "go  down  into  the  deep"  to  catch 
whales — such  a  separation  from  my  family  was  a 
heavy  uphill  business  all  the  time ;  but  since  so 
many  men  endure  similar  privations  in  whale  fishing, 
merchant  marine,  army,  and  naval  service,  I  should  have 
been  ashamed  to  complain,  even  if  I  had  felt  a  com- 
plaining spirit ;  but  having  the  conviction  that  God 
had  appointed  me  a  messenger  to  the  churches  in 
the  "  Southern  world,"  confirmed  by  the  conversion 
of  about  six  thousand  souls  to  God  during  those  two 
and  a  half  years,  I  patiently  waited  the  issues  of 
Providence  in  regard  to  my  family.  At  their  request 
I  had  consented  for  them  to  come  from  California  to 
Australia,  and  I  would  accompany  them  back,  via 
India,  Egypt,  and  England.  But  they  afterwards 
hesitated  and  seemed  rather  to  decline  so  serious  an 
undertaking,  and  I  was  quite  in  doubt  whether  they 
would  come  or  not.  I  therefore  made  plans  for  re- 
turning home   by   that   route,    and   staying   a  few 


4  PROVIDENTIAL    MISSION    TO  SOUTH    AFRICA. 

months  in  India,   whether  my  family  joined  me  or 
not. 

In  November,  18G5,  while  labouring  in  a  series 
of  services  near  Adelaide,  South  Australia,  I  received 
a  letter  from  Mrs.  Taylor,  stating  that,  having  been 
disappointed  in  getting  passage  on  the  ship  that 
brought  the  letter,  she  doubted  whether  it  was  the 
will  of  God  that  they  should  come.  That  was  a 
bitter  disappointment  to  me,  for  notwithstanding  the 
uncertainty  as  to  whether  they  would  come  or  not, 
which  occasioned  me  an  uncomfortable  measure  of 
suspense  for  many  months,  I  had  acquired  a  hope 
that  they  certainly  would  come ;  so  that  now  I  fully 
realised  the  truth  that  "  hope  deferred  makcth  the 
heart  sick." 

The  day  after  I  received  this  sickening  letter  I 
travelled  120  miles,  ninety  by  mail-coach,  amidst 
clouds  of  dust,  under  a  broiling  sun  110°  Fahrenheit, 
in  the  shade,  to  the  mining  town  of  Wallaroo,  on 
York's  Peninsula.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell,  the  supe- 
rintendent of  the  "Wallaroo  circuit,  had  died  but  a  few 
days  before.  It  was  at  his  pressing  invitation  some- 
months  previously  that  I  arranged  to  assist  him  for 
a  fortnight  in  his  great  work  :  but  now,  when  the 
time  arrived,  he  was  gone.  lie  left  a  wife  and  one 
child,  and  a  large  circle  of  friends,  to  mourn  his  loss, 
for  he  was  a  young  man  of  extraordinary  talents  and 
usefulness,  and  assisted  by  his  energetic  colleague,, 
the  Rev.  C.  T.  Newman,  he  was  rapidly  developing 
an  important  °ircuit,  embracing  three  mining  towns 


SUDDEN    SHIFTING   OF   1HE    SCENES.  5 

with  a  population  of  from  four  to  six  thousand  each 
The  annual  yield  of  copper,  in  solid  bars,  from  the 
principal  mine  (the  Moonta)   amounts  to  forty-five 
hundred  tons. 

Brother  Caldwell's  work  was  very  heavy,  and  his 
health  had  been  failing  for  some  months  ;  but  his  un- 
dying energy  had  kept  him  up  to  the  last,  and  then, 
instead  of  remaining  quietlyat  home  to  die,  he  went  to 
Adelaide,  100  miles  distant,  to  attend  the  district  meet- 
ing. He  put  in  one  appearance  at  the  district  meeting, 
represented  his  work,  returned  to  his  lodgings,  and 
died  that  night.  The  ministers  of  the  district,  thus 
assembled,  buried  their  brother,  and  appointed,  as  a 
temporary  supply  to  Wallaroo,  .Rev.  Mr.  Flockhart 
from  the  North  Adelaide  Circuit,  who  accompanied 
me  to  Wallaroo.  We  arrived  at  the  mission  house 
a  little  after  dark,  and  were  kindly  entertained  by 
our  bereaved  sister,  the  widow  Caldwell. 

A  telegram  from  Sj^dney  arrived  that  night, 
sent  by  my  friend  Mr.  Macafee,  of  the  firm  of  Messrs. 
McArthur  and  Co.,  saying,  "  Mrs.  Taylor  and  her 
children  have  just  arrived.     All  well." 

I  had  just  given  up  all  hope  of  seeing  them  for 
many  months  to  come,  but  now  my  dear  wife,  and 
Morgan  Stuart,  Ross,  and  Edward,  aged  nineteen 
nine,  and  six  years — four,  between  the  ages  of  nine- 
teen and  nine,  having  left  us,  and  gone  up  to  the 
"  land  of  the  living" — Lad,  indeed,  arrived  in  Austra- 
lia. I  had  travelled  east,  and  they  west,  and  having 
compassed  thp  globe,  we  were  now,  by  the  mercy  of 


b  PROVIDENTIAL    MISSION   TO    SOUTH   AFRICA. 

God,  on  the  eve  of  a  meeting  in  those  ends  of  the 
earth.  That  was  one  of  the  few  nights  of  my  life 
that  sleep  departed  from  my  eyes.  Surprise,  and 
joy,  and  gratitude  to  God,  combined,  so  filled  my 
heart,  that-sleep  was  sought  in  vain.  It  being  Saturday 
night,  I  could  not  respond  till  Monday  morning.  Seve- 
ral telegrams  were  exchanged  with  my  wife  up  to  Wed- 
nesday, when  I  received  one  saying  that  my  son 
Morgan  Stuart  was  thought  to  be  dying,  and  I  must 
haste  to  see  him  alive ;  I  was  over  one  thousand  miles 
away,  and  no  steamer  till  the  next  week.  My  feelings 
I  will  not  try  to  describe,  but  my  heart  was  stayed 
on  God,  and  I  continued  the  services  that  week,  and 
on  the  following  Sabbath  opened  a  new  church  at 
the  "Moonta."  It  contained  about  1,000  persons;  I 
preached  three  sermons,  made  good  collections  for 
the  "  trust  fund,"  and  had  a  good  work  of  salvation 
that  night. 

By  four  a.m.  Monday  morning  I  was  in  the  coach, 
bound  for  Adelaide,  hoping  it  might  be  the  will  of 
God  that  I  should  return  from  Sydney,  and  resume 
my  contemplated  services  among  those  miners.  When 
I  reached  Adelaide  I  received  another  telegram  saying 
that  my  son  had  a  malignant  fever.  The  Australian 
summer  had  fully  set  in,  and  I  thought  if  it  should 
please  God  to  spare  my  son,  the  sooner  I  could  get 
him  away  to  sea  the  better ;  and  hence,  at  once 
"  packed  up"  for  a  final  departure  from  South  Aus- 
tralia, where  I  had  hoped  to  do  two  months'  more 
work  for  God.  I  could  not  get  a  passage  till  Thurs- 
day p.m.,  which  gave  me  time  to  speak  to  my  family 


FAMILY   MEETING.  7 

a'onsr  the  wires.  Just  as  I  was  stepping  aboard  the 
steamer  I  received  a  despatch  "  in  haste."  I  feared 
it  might  contain  a  thunderbolt  that  might  go  right 
through  my  heart.  I  anchored  my  soul  down  firmly 
"  to  the  rock  that  is  higher  than  I,"  and  said,  "  Go  I 
loves  my  dear  son  more  than  I  possibly  can,  and  His 
decisions,  in  regard  to  him,  are  exactly  right.''  I 
quoted  for  myself,  "  He  shall  not  be  afraid  of  evil  tid- 
ings ;  his  heart  is  fixed, trusting  in  the  Lord."  I  then 
tremblingly  opened  the  despatch,  and  read,  "  Morgan 
is  somewhat  better,  but  we  greatly  need  you  here. 
Signed,  A.  Moffitt."  Then  I  thanked  God,  and  breathed 
more  freely.  I  reached  Melbourne  Saturday  p.m.,  and 
had  to  wait  till  Tuesday  for  a  steamer  to  Sydney. 
Preached  in  three  different  churches  in  Melbourne 
that  Sabbath.  Eeceived  a  telegram  while  there, 
stating  that  Morgan  was  "  convalescing."  Here  I 
made  conditional  arrangements  for  taking  a  Mel- 
bourne ship  direct  for  London,  if  I  should  find 
Morgan  able  to  travel  within  a  fortnight,  and  thus 
get  him  as  soon  as  possible  out  of  the  intense  heat. 
I  reached  Sydney  at  three  a.m.  on  Friday.  Dr. 
Moffitt,  at  whose  house  my  family  were  staying,  had 
been  waiting  at  the  wharf  till  a  few  minutes  before, 
and  had  left  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  James  Greer, 
to  watch  for  my  coming.  He  ordered  a  cab,  and 
drove  me  at  once  to  Dr.  Moffitt's.  My  poor  wife  had 
not  retired  to  rest,  and  indeed  had  not  been  able  to 
sleep  a  night  for  nearly  a  fortnight,  and  was  nearly 
worn  out  with  care  and  weary  watching.  I  found 
my  son  was  much  worse  than  I  feared.  It  was  thought 


8  PROVIDENTIAL    MISSION    TO    SOUTH    AFRICA. 

best  for  me  not  to  go  into  his  room,  to  excite 
him,  till  morning,  for  though  the  nervous  derange- 
ment and  delirium  occasioned  by  high  fever  almost 
precluded  sleep,  still  every  measure  of  undue  excite- 
ment was  to  be  avoided. 

At  day  dawn  my  little  Ross  was  brought  to  me. 
He  had  grown  out  of  my  knowledge.  I  took  him 
into  my  arras,  and  wept  over  him  some  minutes 
before  I  could  speak  to  him.  I  then  asked  him  if 
he  knew  me. 

"  Yes,  papa." 

"  How  do  you  know  that  I  am  your  papa  ?  " 

"  My  mother  told  me  so  ?  " 

He  thus  accepted  me  as  his  father  on  the  faith  of 
his  mother's  testimony. 

I  then  received  my  dear  little  Eddie — who  thought 
he  remembered  me  very  distinctly,  though  he  was 
but  two  years  old  when  I  parted  with  him.  His 
memory  no  doubt  got  its  impression,  which  he  found 
identical  with  the  person  of  his  pa,  from  a  recent 
"  carte  de  visite." 

I  then  went  into  the  room  which  1  had  occupied 
as  my  bedroom  while  labouring  in  Sydney,  and  em- 
braced the  bony  wreck  of  my  firstborn,  and  heard 
him  faintly  say,  "  0  my  father  !  "  Then  we  sat 
down  just  outside  the  gates  of  death,  and  wept,  and 
prayed,  and  watched  our  sick  son  for  three  months. 
My  dear  Dr.  Moffitt,  at  whose  residence  we  were  en- 
tertained, and  his  consulting  physicians,  gave  it  as 
their  judgment  that  at  least  a  year  would  probably  be 


SAILED   FOR   AFRICA.  9 

required  for  his  recovery.  Our  contemplated  trip  to 
India  was  out  of  the  question.  To  remain  through 
an  Australian  summer  was  hazardous  in  the  extreme. 
To  go  to  the  northern  hemisphere,  just  in  time  to 
encounter  the  summer  heat  there,  was  not  the  thing 
for  an  invalid  of  that  description. 

Our  physicians  unanimously  decided  that  our  best 
possible  plan  was  to  take  ship  for  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  We  would  have  a  temperate  climate  at  sea 
in  going,  and  arrive  about  the  first  of  April — the 
commencement  of  the  salubrious  winter  season  of 
Cape  Colony. 

Every  other  way  was  closed  against  us  as  certainly 
as  was  "  Asia  and  Bithynia  "  against  St.  Paul  and 
Co.,  and  our  call  to  Africa  as  distinct  as  was  theirs 
to  "  Macedonia."  I  need  not  speak  of  the  terribly 
severe  and  varied,  but  graciously  sanctified  disci- 
pline of  those  intervening  months,  in  Sydney,  in 
Melbourne,  in  Adelaide,  and  at  sea.  However  God 
was  with  us,  and  not  a  Sabbath  passed  that  I  did  not 
preach  from  two  to  three  sermons.  On  the  17th  of 
February,  1866,  we  bade  our  dear  friends  in  Adelaide 
farewell,  and  went  aboard  the  fine  clipper  ship,  "  St. 
Vincent/''  Captain  Loutett,  and  after  a  prosperous 
voyage  of  forty-one  days,  we  cast  anchor  in  Table 
Bay,  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

Rev.  James  Calvert  and  wife,  who  had  been  suc- 
cessfully labouring  in  the  Wesleyan  Missions  in 
Figii  for  twenty- five  years,  sailed  from  Adelaide 
three  days  after  our  departure  in  the  ship  "  Yatala/' 


10        PROVIDENTIAL   MISSION   TO   SOUTH    AFRICA. 

a  rival  London  ship  of  the  "  St.  "Vincent."  Our 
captain  and  ship's  company  were  rejoiced  to  find, 
as  we  cast  anchor  in  Table  Bay,  about  sunset 
on  Friday  evening,  March  30th,  that  the  "  Yatala  " 
had  not  yet  arrived.  But  the  first  thing  we  heard 
in  the  morning  was  "  The  '  Yatala's  '  in.  She  cast 
anchor  at  four  o'clock  this  morning/'  Early  Satur- 
day morning,  I  went  ashore  with  Captain  Loutett, 
and  selected  quarters  at  Parke's  Hotel  for  self  and 
family,  at  forty-eight  shillings  per  day.  Our  pas- 
sage from  Adelaide  had  cost  us  altogether  over 
£200,  but  our  son's  health  was  greatly  improved,  and 
we  thanked  God,  and  felt  sure  that  we  were  in 
the  providential  path,  and  that  having  committed 
"  our  way  unto  the  Lord,  and  trusting  also  in  Him, 
He  certainly  would  bring  it  to  pass " — bring  that 
to  pass  which  was  best  for  us,  and  the  good  of  His 
cause.  I  left  a  note  at  the  hotel  for  Rev.  Samuel 
Hardey,  Superintendent  of  the  Wesleyan  Circuit  of 
Cape  Town  and  Chairman  of  the  Cape  Town  District, 
to  whom  I  had  letters  from  our  mutual  friend,  Dr. 
Moffit.  I  then  returned  to  our  ship  for  my  family. 
"When  we  landed,  Rev.  John  Thomas,  "Wesleyan 
Missionary  to  the  Dutch-speaking  Coloured  "Wes- 
leyan Circuit  of  Cape  Town,  met  us,  and  gave  us  a 
welcome  greeting,  and  accompanied  us  to  our  quar- 
ters. Brother  Hardey  had  called  at  the  hotel  during 
my  absence,  but  was  then  occupied  with  Rev. 
Brother  Calvert,  whom  he  took  to  his  own  house. 
He  kindly  offered  to  provide  for  me  and  mine  among 


REV.  s.  hardey's  labours.  11 

the  friends,  which  I  respectfully  declined.  Brother 
Thomas  has  been  in  the  mission  work  in  Southern 
Africa  for  twenty-six  years.  He  is  an  earnest  good 
man.  Rev.  Brother  Hardey  was  for  twenty-five 
years  a  Wesleyan  Missionary  in  India,  his  ex- 
cellent wife  is  a  native  of  India,  horn  of  Missionary 
parents  there,  in  connection  with  the  Wesley  an 
Missionary  Society.  Brother  Hardey's  health  failing 
in  India,  he  spent  some  time  in  Mauritius,  and 
founded  a  Mission  among  the  Indian  coolies  there, 
of  whom  there  are  about  200,000  on  that  island. 
This  promising  young  mission,  not  having  been 
founded  under  any  regular  missionary  plan,  and  the 
Secretaries  of  the  Wesley  an  Missionary  Society  not 
seeing  their  way  clear  to  adopt  it,  and  enter  it  on 
their  very  extensive  list  of  Foreign  Missions,  it  was 
turned  over  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  and 
is  being  carried  on  with  success. 

Brother  Hardey  then  spent  seven  years  as  a  mis- 
sionary in  West  Australia,  and  fully  recovered  his 
health.  He  has  been  but  a  few  years  in  Cape  Town, 
but  has  done,  and  is  doing,  a  good  work  there.  He 
is  one  of  the  most  affable,  kind-spirited  men,  I 
believe,  that  this  world  can  produce,  and  is,  I  am 
told,  a  good  administrator  of  discipline,  a  good 
preacher  as  well.  He  gave  me  a  cordial  welcome  to 
Cape  Colony,  and  was  ready  at  once  heartily  to  co- 
operate with  me  in  special  efforts  to  promote  the 
Work  of  God. 


CHAPTER  IL 

CAPE    COLONY. 

The  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  discovered  by  tlie  Por- 
tuguese in  I486,  and  called  the  "  Cape  of  Storms.' 
The  King  of  Portugal  subsequently  changed  the 
name  'to  "  Cape  of  Good  Hope."  In  view  of  the 
terrible  gales  which  occasionally  occur,  and  the  ex- 
posure of  Table  Bay  to  their  fury,  it  would  seem  that 
the  first  would  still  be  a  very  appropriate  name. 
Only  eleven  months  before  our  arrival,  a  north-west 
gale  swept  the  Bay  with  such  violence  that  of  twenty- 
seven  vessels  in  the  harbour  only  nine  of  them  rode 
out  the  gale.  The  remaining  eighteen  were  driven 
ashore,  with  great  loss  of  property  and  life.  As  the 
Colonial  Government  and  people  are  making  docks, 
by  an  immense  excavation  in  solid  rock,  and  forming 
a  breakwater  with  the  stone  thus  obtained,  I  think 
there  is  "  good  hope  "  that  it  will  soon  afford  safe 
anchorage  for  the  shipping.  The  breakwater  has 
been  carried  out  1,701  feet.  The  rock,  with  a  slight 
mixture  of  the  soil  taken  from  the  site  of  the  inner 
basin,  amounts  to  822,055  cubic  yards.  The  whole 
cost  of  the  work,  so  far  as  they  have  gone  up  to 


SETTLEMENT    OF    THE    CAEE.  13 

December,  1866,  amounted,  according  to  their  offi- 
cial report,  to  the  round  sum.  of  £391,135  14s. 

The  first  European  settlement  at  the  Cape  was  in 
1652,  consisting  of  one  hundred  men,  under  the 
authority  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  not  so 
much  with  a  view  "  to  establish  a  colony,  as  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  place  for  supplies,  and  for  recruiting 
the  sick  of  the  Company."  It  continued  under  the 
control  of  this  East  India  company,  by  consent  of 
the  Home  Government  in  Holland,  with  a  short  in- 
termission that  the  English  held  it,  for  150  years, 
slowly  increasing  its  population,  and  extending  its 
territorial  lines. 

In  1806,  the  British  troops  took  possession  of  the 
colony,  and  it  is  to  be  said  to  the  honour  of  Lord 
Caledon,  the  first  English  governor,  that  he  struck 
the  first  death-blow  against  slavery,  which  every- 
where prevailed  among  the  Dutch  settlers.  In 
1807  he  proclaimed  it  to  be  "  unlawful  to  retain 
Hottentot  children  as  apprentices." 

It  was  in  1834  that  slavery  was  abolished  through- 
out the  colony  under  Sir  B.  D'Urban.  This  occa- 
sioned great  dissatisfaction  among  many  of  the 
Dutch  settlers,  and  large  numbers  of  them  left  the 
colony,  and  went  to  seek  a  country  in  the  interior 
wilds  of  Africa.  A  large  number  of  them  went  to 
Natal,  more  than  one  thousand  miles  east  of  Cape 
Town.  But  in  consequence  of  their  bad  treat- 
ment of  the  natives  in  that  country,  they  got  into 
collision  with  the  English  colonial  government.   Mr. 


14  CAl'E    COLONY. 

George  Cato,  of  Natal,  then  an  English  trader  there, 
now  a  wealthy  landowner,  sugar  planter,  counsellor- 
general  of  the  governor  and  government  of  Natal, 
Consul  of  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Denmark,  and  Con- 
sular Agent  for  the  United  States  of  America,  and 
altogether  the  most  important  individual  in  that 
colony,  wrote  a  letter  to  a  friend,  who  showed  it  to 
the  governor,  and  British  troops  were  sent  to  D'Urban, 
the  principal  port  of  entry,  called  after  the  governor, 
to  protect  the  natives  and  British  residents  in  that 
quarter.  After  a  great  deal  of  skirmishing,  and 
some  hard  fighting,  the  defeated  Dutch  trekked 
beyond  the  "  Drakensberg,"  and  formed  settlements 
on  the  Orange  River,  which  have  developed  into  the 
"  Free  State/'  and  "  Transvaal  Republics." 

Meantime,  the  tide  of  English  immigration  continued 
to  increase.  "  In  the  year  1820,  the  British  Govern- 
ment spent  £50,000  sterling  in  sending  British 
settlers  to  the  Eastern  province  of  Cape  Colony,  so 
that,  by  the  gradual  diminution  of  the  Dutch  ele- 
ment, and  the  increase  of  the  English,  as  early  as 
1822,  it  was  ordered,  by  proclamation,  that  the  Eng- 
lish language  should  be  used  in  all  judicial  proceed- 
ings." The  Dutch  population,  however,  in  most 
places,  especially  in  the  Western  province,  is  much 
greater  than  the  English ;  and,  as  it  regards  their 
wealth,  and  superiority  of  church  edifices,  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  is,  practically,  the  "  State  Church" 
of  the  country.  Though  it  does  not  monopolise  all 
the  "State  aid"  of  the  colony,  yet  of  the   £16,000 


POPULATION    OK   CAPE    COLOK^.  15 

annually  granted  by  the  Colonial  Government  for  the 
support  of  religion,  the  Dutch  Keformed  Church 
gets  £9,000.  The  Parliament,  during  its  recent 
session  (1866),  came  within  two  votes  of  abolishing 
"State  Aid"  altogether.  They  will  probably  come 
to  that  before  ninny  yoara,  for  the  most  of  this 
money  goes,  not  to  support  weak  churches  in  poor 
and  sparsely  settled  portions,  but  mainly  to  the 
wealthy  churches  in  Cape  Town. 

The  population  of  Cape  Colony,  according  to  the 
"  Census  of  18G5/'  amounted  to  an  aggregate  of 
482,240,  or,  in  round  numbers,  nearly  half  a  million, 
of  which  71,078  are  whites,  principally  Dutch  and 
English,  including,  of  course,  the  usual  proportion 
of  Scotch  and  Irish. 

The  native  population  is  subdivided  as  follows  : — 

The  ancient  occupants  of  this  country  were  "  bush- 
men/''  a  nation  of  beings  of  very  low  stature,  low  in 
intellect,  and  have  the  character  of  being  a  maraud- 
ing, murderous  people.  They  are  now  almost  ex- 
tinct. They  were  superseded  by  the  Hottentots,  a  race 
peculiarly  marked,  with  deep  set  eyes,  and  very  high 
cheek  bones  ;  their  faces  on  a  line  across  the  nose  and 
cheek  bones  are  very  broad,  the  forehead  not  so  broad, 
and  the  lower  part  of  the  face  and  chin  very  narrow. 

It  was  this  class  of  natives  that  the  Dutch 
reduced  to  slavery,  and  hence  such  an  amalgama- 
tion with  the  Dutch  that  the  name  Ilottentot.  in 
many  sections  of  the  country,  is  synonymous  wuh 
"  Bastard." 


16  CArE    COLONY. 

The  Hottentots,  throughout  the  colony,  pure  and 
mixed,  number  79,996.  The  "  Bastards"  hold  them- 
selves quite  superior  to  the  purely  black  races,  and 
usually  have  separate  sitting  in  chapel.  Many  of 
them  are  rising  in  the  scale  of  education,  civilisation, 
and  religion.  They  are  principally  under  the  care 
of  the  missionaries  of  the  "  London  Missionary 
Society." 

Many  thousands  of  these  "  Bastards,"  not  em- 
braced however  in  the  census  of  Cape  Colony,  under 
the  chieftainship  of  Captain  Adam  Kok,  by  the 
advice  and  encouragement  of  the  Colonial  Govern- 
ment, removed,  some  four  years  a^o,  from  "  Griqua- 
land,"  near  the  Orange  River,  in  the  "  Free  State," 
to  a  large  district  of  country  in  Eastern  Kaffraria, 
bordering  on  the  colony  of  Natal,  called  "  No-man's- 
land."  Their  missionary  declined  to  accompany 
them  to  their  mountain  home  ;  but  in  building  up  a 
town  of  over  1,000  population,  they  have  built  in  the 
midst  of  their  barracks  a  chapel,  which  will  seat 
about  600  ;  and  there,  and  in  several  smaller  com 
munilies,  they  have  regular  services  every  Sabbath. 
I  preached  for  them  on  my  journey  through  Kaf- 
fraria, and  though  it  was  raining,  and  sleeting,  and 
bitterly  cold,  their  church  was  crowded  with  well- 
dressed  and  well-behaved  worshippers.  Their  lan- 
guage is  the  Dutch,  though  many  of  them  are 
learning  the  English.  But  a  large  class  of  the 
Hottentots  have  learned  so  many  of  the  vices  of  tho 


HOTTENTOTS    AND   KAFFIRS.  17 

white  man,  especially   a  love  for  brandy,  that  they 
are  dying  out  very  fast. 

Before  the  European  occupancy  of  Cape  Colony, 
the  Kaffirs  had  pressed  down  from  the  east  into  the 
country  of  the  Hottentots,  and  had  taken  a  great 
deal  of  their  land,  which  they  had  previously  taken 
from  the  bushmen. 

The  Kaffirs  in  Cape  Colony  number  95,577.  They 
are  naturally  a  powerful  race  of  people.  Those  in 
the  colony,  and  on  the  eastern  border  of  it,  are  con- 
sidered finer  specimens  of  men,  than  the  nations 
further  eastward.  Rev.  Win.  Shaw  says,  "The 
Kaffirs  are  physically  a  fine  race  of  people.  Thr 
Amaxosa  are,  as  a  general  rule,  of  greater  stature 
than  Englishmen,  and  in  general  well  made 
and  finely  proportioned.  Many  have  well-formed 
heads  and  pleasing  features,  such  as  would  be 
deemed  handsome  in  a  European.  They  walk  erect, 
and  with  a  firm  step,  and  when  occasion  presents, 
they  show  great  agility  and  fieetness  of  foot." 
Mr.  Godlonton,  the  originator  and  senior  proprietor 
of  the  Graham's  Town  Journal,  which  claims  the  most 
extensive  circulation  of  any  paper  in  the  colony,  told 
me  that  before  they  had  regular  mail  facilities  in 
the  colony,  he  had  a  Kaffir  who,  twice  each  week, 
carried  a  load  of  papers  fresh  from  the  press,  after 
dark,  forty-six  miles  to  Fort  Beaufort,  and  delivered 
them  there  at  day  dawn  next  morning.  The  over- 
land mail  from  the  Eastern  Province  of  Cape  Colony 
to  Natal,  is  carried  a  distance  of  over  400  miles,  by 

c 


18  CAPE    COLONY. 

Kaffirs  on  foot.  The  traders  and  missionaries  often 
send  books  and  other  articles  in  the  mail  bags, 
amounting  sometimes  to  a  load,  as  I  have  seen  and 
handled  them,  more  suitable  for  a  horse  than  a  man, 
and  yet  those  uncomplaining  fellows  carry  them 
through  with  great  despatch. 

"  Kaffir  women,"  says  Rev.  Mr.  Shaw,  "  when 
young,  generally  appear  to  be  quite  equal  to  their 
countrymen  in  physical  development,  only  differing 
in  size  as  in  all  other  nations."  "The  prevailing 
colour  of  the  Kaffirs  on  the  border  is  nearly  that  of 
dark  mahogany.  There  are,  however,  great  varieties, 
from  a  tawny  brown  to  a  jet  black.  As  a  general 
rule,  the  Zulu  Kaffirs  are  much  darker  than  the 
Frontier  tribes."  I  have  seen  a  great  many  myself 
who  are  purely  a  red,  glossy,  copper  colour.  Many 
of  them  have  nearly  as  good  a  Jewish  physiognomy 
as  any  of  the  sons  of  Abraham. 

The  chiefs  all  hold  their  rank  by  hereditary  right, 
and  Rev.  Mr.  Shepstone,  and  others,  have  been  able 
to  trace  the  regular  succession  of  the  principal  ruling 
chiefs  of  the  country  back  for  fifteen  hundred  years. 
The  people  are  divided  into  nations,  tribes,  clans, 
and  families. 

The  Kaffirs  speak  a  most  euphonious  language, 
constructed  with  such  precision,  that  old  Kaffir 
scholars  have  told  me  that  they  never  heard  a  Kaffir 
make  a  grammatical  blunder  in  speaking  his  own 
language,  and  almost  every  Kaffir  is  a  natural  orator. 
The  principal  nations,  beginning  in  the  colony,  and 


SPECIMENS   OF    THE   KAFFIR   FAIR   SEX. 


THE   KAFFIR   TRIBES.  19 

going  eastwardly,  are  the  Amaxosa,  Abutembu 
(Tembookies),  Ambaca,  Amapondo,  Amaponduinsi, 
and  Amazulu. 

Besides  the  96,000  Kaffirs,  in  round  numbers,  in 
Cape  Colony,  there  are  supposed  to  be  at  least 
300,000  between  Cape  Colony  and  Natal,  in  a  strip 
of  country  150  miles  wide  and  400  miles  coast-wise, 
known  as  Kaffraria.  They  have  a  fine  country  for 
live-stock,  well  watered ;  and  a  good  supply  of  cattle, 
sheep,  and  goats.  Their  principal  grain  is  Kaffir  corn, 
which  has  the  general  aj)pearunce,  but  with  a  grain 
double  the  size  of  broom-corn,  and  maize,  or  Indian 
corn.  This  is  pounded  in  a  mortar,  and  prepared 
very  much  like  American  hominy,  and  also  ground 
into  meal  between  two  stones  prepared  for  the  p  ir« 
pose,  and  worked  by  hand.  As  in  olden  time  the 
women  do  the  grinding. 

The  name  "  Kaffir,"  by  which  all  these  nations 
of  natives,  from  Cape  Colony  to  Delagoa  Bay,  three 
or  four  hundred  miles  east  of  Natal,  and  their 
language,  are  designated  by  Europeans,  "is  not  a 
name  used  by  the  natives  to  designate  either  them* 
selves  or  any  other  tribes  in  the  country.  "  The 
word,"  says  ReT.  Mr.  Shaw,  "  is  derived  from  the 
Arabic,  and  signifies  an  infidel  or  unbeliever.  It  is, 
in  fact,  the  epithet  which  most  Mohamedan  people 
in  the  East  would  apply  to  any  European  or  Chris- 
tian." It  was  therefore  a  term  of  reproach  given  by 
the  followers  of  the  false  prophet,  but  has  come  into 
universal  use  as  applied  to  this  people,  their  language, 


20  CAPE    COLONY. 

and  the  literature  which  has  been  given  them,  and 
indeed  is  so  convenient  for  the  mass  of  Europeans, 
who  could  not  understand,  or  even  pronounce  the 
hard  names  by  which  many  tribes  are  known  among 
themselves,  as  to  be  indispensable. 

The  remaining  131,992  mentioned  in  the  census, 
filling  up  the  aggregate  of  nearly  half  a  million  in 
the  colony,  are  "Fin goes,"  except  some  15  or 
20,000  Malays,  principally  in  Cape  Town  and  Port 
Elizabeth,  who  were  brought  originally  from  the 
Dutch  East  Indian' possessions.  The  most  of  these 
Malays  are  Mohamedans,  and  have  their  mosques, 
and  peculiar  forms  of  worship  in  the  cities  just  named. 

The  Fingoes,  which  constitute  so  large  a  propor- 
tion of  the  native  population  of  the  colony,  are 
refugees  from  the  East.  They  were  driven  from  their 
homes  by  Chaka,  an  Amazulu  chief,  who  waged  a 
most  desolating  war  for  eighteen  years,  from  1817  to 
1835,  against  all  his  neighbouring  tribes.  Mr. 
Shaw  says  : — "  The  terror  of  Chaka's  name,  and  the 
destructive  mode  of  conducting  war  by  the  Amazulu, 
combined  to  deprive  the  surrounding  tribes  of  all 
hope  that  they  could  offer  any  effectual  resistance; 
and,  in  numerous  cases,  they  fled  from  their  country 
on  the  approach  of  the  smallest  detachment  of 
Chaka's  fighting  men.  The  victories  of  his  warriors 
extended  east,  west,  north,  and  south,  over  an  area 
of  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  square  miles. 
Some  of  the  more  powerful  tribes,  when  driven  out 
of  their  own  districts,  invaded  the  territory  of  their 


THE    FINGOES.  21 

neighbours,  until  the  whole  region  from  Delagoa  Bay- 
to  the  Griqua  country,  near  the  Orange  lliver,  and 
from  the  Basuto  country,  in  the  north  to  that  of  the 
Arnapondo  in  the  south,  was  one  scene  of  war  aud 
desolation.  Men,  women,  and  children  were  unspar- 
ingly slain  by  their  conquerors.  It  is  believed  that 
fully  one  half  the  population  of  that  immense  dis- 
trict, just  described,  during  those  dreadful  eighteen 
years  of  slaughter,  perished."  Many  thousands  of 
these  refugees  were  received  by  the  Amatembu, 
Amaxosa,  and  other  Kaffir  tribes,  along  the  eastern 
border  of  Cape  Colony,  as  "  Amamfengu,"  or  Fingoes, 
having  a  meaning  corresponding  with  that  of 
"serfs."  They  were  not  slaves  to  be  bought  and 
sold,  and  separated  from  their  families,  but  were  dis- 
tributed by  families,  and  clans,  among  the  head  men 
of  different  kraals ;  seed  and  cattle  were  furnished 
them,  and  the  free  use  of  the  public  domain  ;  but 
their  corn  or  cattle  were  at  any  time  subject  to  sei- 
zure at  the  will  of  the  Kaffir  chiefs.  Thousands  of 
them  subsequently  took  refuge  at  the  Wesleyan 
Mission  stations  in  KafFraria.  The  Kaffir  chiefs 
meantime  became  very  jealous  of  the  Fingoes,  and 
greatly  oppressed  them.  When  the  Kaffir  war  against 
the  Colonists  in  1835  broke  out,  many  Fingoes  rallied 
around  our  missionaries  at  "  Butter  worth,  Clarkebury, 
and  Morley  "Wesleyan  Mission  stations,  and  on  the 
arrival  of  the  British  troops  many  more  fled  from 
their  masters,  and  took  refuge  in  the  British 
camp.        Governor     D'Urban,     finding     that     the 


22  CAPE    COLONY. 

Fin  goes  reposed  great  confidence  in  the  mission- 
aries, requested  Rev.  Mr.  Ayliff  to  take  the  whole 
body  of  the  Fingoes  under  their  special  care 
and  lead  them  to  the  land  of  the  free  in  the  colony. 
The  Governor  in  his  official  report  says,  "  When  it 
became  necessary  to  make  war  upon  Ilintsa  and  his 
people,  finding  the  people  called  Fingocs  living 
among  them  in  a  state  of  most  grievous  bondage, 
and  seeing  them  anxious  to  be  delivered,  I  at  once 
declared  them  to  be  a  free  people  and  subjects  of  the 
King  of  England ;  and  it  is  now  my  intention  to 
place  them  in  the  country  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Great  Fish  River,  in  order  to  protect  the  bush 
country  from  the  entrance  of  the  Kaffirs  ;  and  also 
that  by  bringing  a  large  population  into  the  colony, 
the  colonists  may  eupply  themselves  with  free 
labourers." 

In  company  with  the  British  troops,  on  their  re- 
turn into  the  colony,  Rev.  John  Ayliff,  during  one 
week,  from  the  9th  to  the  15th  of  May,  1835,  led 
out  of  bondage  into  the  colony  16,000  of  these 
people,  with  all  their  cattle.  The  policy  indicated 
in  the  Governor's  proclamation  has  ever  since  been 
carried  out,  and  the  Fin  goes,  who  now  number  over 
100,000  in  the  colony,  have  ever  remained  loyal  to 
the  Government,  and  they  are  still  specially  under 
the  care  of  the  TVesleyan  Missionaries.  The 
Government  has  done  much  for  them  in  various 
ways.  Governor  Grey  established  "  Industrial 
Schools  for  them  at  Fort  Peddie,  Heald  Town,  and 


FINGO   THRIFT.  23 

Lesseyton,  under  the  "Wesleyans  ;  and  at  '  Lovedale/ 
under  the  missionaries  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland." 

The  Kaffirs,  never  having  been  in  bondage,  are 
open,  independent,  and  manly  in  their  bearing,  and 
seem  never  to  feel  that  spirit  of  servility,  common 
among  the  Fingoes,  and  for  a  long  time  the  Kaffirs 
continued  to  despise  the  Fingoes ;  but  the  superior 
political  relations  of  the  Fingoes  as  British  subjects, 
and  the  fact  that  many  hundreds  of  them,  by  their 
industry,  have  become  the  owners  of  good  farms, 
oxen,  wagons,  and  herds  ;  and  that  thousands  of  the 
younger  ones  can  read  and  write,  and  speak  the 
English  language,  they  now  command  the  respect  of 
even  of  their  former  masters.  The  following  extract 
from  the  Grahams  Toicn  Journal  may  serve  as  a 
further  illustration  of  this  subject : — 

"  The  circumstances  of  the  colonial  natives  gene- 
rally may  seem,  to  persons  fresh  from  Europe,  su- 
premely miserable  ;  but  this  is  very  far,  indeed,  from 
being  the  case.  Hardy,  with  few  wants,  and  having 
those  wants  easily  supplied,  the  poorest  of  them  are 
better  off  than  the  lower  class  of  Europeans,  while 
thrifty  and  industrious  men  often  accumulate  a  great 
deal  of  property. 

We  could  point  out  at  least  half-a-dozen  natives  in 
a  single  district,  whose  properties,  if  realized,  would 
produce  from  £3,000  to  £5,000  each  ;  and  there  are 
hundreds  of  Fingoes,  whose  position  among  natives 
is  one  of  opulence.     The  fact  is,  that  with  ordinary 


24  CAPE    COLONY. 

prudence,  any  native,  not  unduly  encumbered  with 
wives,  may,  after  a  few  years  of  service,  save  enough 
in  the  shape  of  live-stock  to  give  him  a  very  credi- 
table position  among  his  compatriots.  We  may 
mention,  for  instance,  that  within  the  last  five 
months,  the  following  stock — all  the  property  of 
native  immigrants — passed  through  Queen's  Town: — 
Of  sheep  and  goats,  7,548  ;  of  cattle,  627  head ; 
and  of  horses,  159."  In  the  settlement  of  the  last 
colonial  war  complications  with  the  Kaffirs,  the 
Government  got  from  the  celebrated  warrior  chief 
"  Krilie,"  a  large  tract  of  country  beyond  the 
"  Kai  river,"  which  has  recently  been  given  to  the 
Fingoes.  They  have  hence  become  the  owners  of  the 
soil  in  which  they  dwelt  as  serfs.  The  immigrants 
above  mentioned  were  journeying  to  this  land  of 
promise.  About  40,000  Fingoes  have  already  settled 
in  their  new  home,  which  may  appropriately  be  called 
"  Fingoland." 

"  This  colony,  like  Australia  and  Canada,  is  ruled 
by  a  Governor  (appointed  by  the  Home  Government), 
assisted  by  an  executive  Council,  as  well  as  by  Upper 
and  Lower  Houses  of  Parliament,  respectively  named 
the  Legislative  Council  and  the  House  of  Assembly. 
The  Council  contains  fifteen  members,  eight  of 
whom  are  elected  by  the  votes  in  the  western  dis- 
tricts, and  seven  by  those  in  the  eastern  province, 
while  the  Assembly  comprises  forty-six  members, 
elected  by  the  various  constituencies  throughout  the 
colony."     "  The  judicial  establishment  comprises  the 


THE   COLONIAL   GOVERNMENT.  25 

Supreme  Court,  of  four  judges,  who  hold  sessions  in 
Cape  Town,  and  Circuit  Courts  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts ;  also  an  Eastern  Province  High  Court  of 
judicature."  "The  numerous  Courts  of  resident 
magistrates,  in  all  the  larger  villages,  exercise  Limited 
jurisdiction  in  all  civil  and  tcriminal  cases." 


CHAPTER  HI. 


CAPE    TOWN. 


Cape  Town,  the  capital  of  the  colony,  is  located  at 
the  base  of  Table  Mountain,  which  rises  very  precipi- 
tously to  an  elevation  of  about  four  thousand  feet, 
and  is  nearly  as  flat  as  a  table  on  the  top  and  often 
covered  with  a  light  fleecy  mist,  gently  dropping 
over  the  edge  like  a  tablecloth.  The  mountain 
constitutes  a  grand  background  for  the  city,  and 
contrasts  beautifully  with  the  splendid  flower-gardens 
and  groves  of  oak,  and  Scotch  firs,  which  abound  at 
its  base,  in,  and  around,  the  city.  Cape  Town  has 
a  population  of  28,547,  of  which  15,118  are  whites, 
about  12,500  Malays,  and  about  1,000  Hottentots 
and  Kaffirs. 

It  is  well  supplied  with  banks  and  news- 
papers, and  all  the  variety  of  educational  and  bene- 
volent institutions,  common  in  large  towns.  In 
the  midst  of  the  city  are  beautiful  Botanic  Gardens, 
Museum,  and  Library.  The  Museum  "comprises  a  fine 
series  of  mammals,  birds,  reptiles,  fish,  shells,  insects, 
fossils,  and  minerals.  It  has  also  collections  of  coins, 
weapons  of  various  races,  and    some   specimens  oi 


MY    FIRST    SABIUTII    IN    OAPE   TOWN.  27 

metal-work  and  plastic  art."  The  principal  room 
containing  these,  "  is  eighty  feet  long,  forty-two 
broad,  and  thirty-nine  high." 

The  Public  Library,  occupying  part  of  the 
same  building,  is  said  to  be  superior  to  that  of 
any  other  colony.  It  "  contains  tx.oks  in  every 
branch  of  science  and  literature,  and  has  nearly 
40,000  volumes  on  its  shelves.  It  is  open  to  the 
public  daily  from  9  a.m.  to  4.30  p.m.  free  of  ex- 
pense." 

In  an  adjoining  room  is  what  is  known  as  "  The 
Grey  Library,"  containing  5,000  volumes,  many  of 
them  very  ancient  and  rare.  It  was  presented  to 
the  colony  by  her  late  Governor,  Sir  George  Grey, 
now  Governor  of  New  Zealand. 

There  are  three  large  Dutch  Reformed  Church 
edifices  in  Cape  Town,  containing  an  aggregate 
of  8,000  members.  He  v.  Andrew  Murray,  jun., 
a  pastor  of  one  of  them,  a  liberal,  and  thoroughly 
evangelical,  man,  was  "  Moderator  of  the  Synod." 
His  father,  Rev.  A.  Murray,  sen.,  an  old  pioneer 
minister  in  the  Dutch  Preformed  Church  in  Southern 
Africa,  has  given  three  highly-accomplished,  and 
pious  sons  to  her  ministry.  The  father,  full  of 
years,  and  ripe  for  heaven,  died  a  few  months  ago  in 
"  Graafreinet." 

There  are  three  Protestant  Episcopal  churches  in 
the  city,  one  Presbyterian,  one  Independent,  one 
Evangelical  Lutheran,  and  two  Weslcyan, — one  for 
the  English,  and  one  for  the  coloured  Dutch. 


28  CAPE   TOWN. 

As  I  propose  to  illustrate  a  great  variety  of  Chris- 
tian adventures  in  South  Africa,  besides  what  I  saw 
and  did  myself,  I  will  insert  a  few  specimens  here, 
and  one  commendable  act,  worthy  of  a  Christian,  by 
one  of  those  Malays — a  very  different  fellow,  cer- 
tainly, from  the  one  who  stole  one  of  my  boots  while 
I  was  one  morning  swimming  in  Table  Bay.  He 
might  just  as  easily  have  taken  both  boots  as  one,  and 
I  wondered  why  he  did  not,  till  a  friend  of  mine 
traced  it,  and  bought  the  boot  from  him.  Having 
one  boot,  he  counted  his  chances  for  a  customer  for  it 
in  the  person  of  the  owner. 

My  friend,  Henry  Reed,  Esq.,  of  Dunorlan,  Tun- 
bridge  Wells,  in  one  of  his  voyages  to  Australia, 
stopped,  in  the  year  1840,  in  company  with  his 
family  at  Cape  Town.  "When  the  ship  came  to 
anchor,  a  Malay  boatman  tipped  his  hat  to  Mr.  Heed, — 

"  A  boat,  sir  ?  " 

"  What  will  you  charge  to  take  me  and  my  family 
ashore  ?  " 

"  Thirteen  dollars,  sir." 

"  Thirteen  dollars  !   Why,  that  is  too  much." 

"  No,  sir,  it  is  the  regular  price,  and  I  can't  do  it 
for  less  !  " 

"  Very  well,"  said  Mr.  Reed,  "  we  will  go  with 
you." 

When  safely  landed  he  paid  the  Malay  thirteen 
dollars,  about  £2  14s.  The  next  morning  a  mes- 
senger called  on  Mr.  Reed  at  his  lodgings,  and 
said, — 


THE    MALAY   BOATMAN.  29 

"The  Malay  boatman,  who  brought  you  ashore 
yesterday,  is  at  the  door,  and  wants  to  see  you.''' 

"  Dear  me/'  thought  Heed,  as  he  was  going  to  the 
door,  "that  fellow  is  not  satisfied  with  his  extor- 
tionary gains  of  yesterday,  and  wants  to  make 
another  draw  on  me  to-day,  the  mean  fellow." 

"  What  do  you  want,  sir  ?  "  demanded  Heed. 

"  You  made  a  mistake  yesterday  in  the  money 
you  paid  me/'  replied  the  boatman. 

"  Not  at  all,  sir  ;  no  mistake  about  it.  You  asked 
me  thirteen  dollars  for  your  work,  and  I  paid  you, 
and  you'll  not  get  any  more,"  and  added  to  the  sen- 
tence, in  his  own  mind,  "  these  villanous  boatmen 
are  alike  the  world  over." 

"  No,"  said  the  Malay,  "  you  are  quite  mistaken  ; 
I  charged  thirteen  dollars — " 

"  Yes,"  rejoined  Mr.  Reed,  "  and  I  paid  it,  and 
you  ought  to  be  satisfied." 

''But/'  continued  the  son  of  Mohamed,  "I  meant 
Dutch  rix-dollars,  and  you  paid  me  three  times  as 
much  as  I  asked,  and  I  have  brought  vour  money 
back/'  handing  him  the  money. 

Thirteen  rix-dollars  are  19s.  6d.,  instead  of  £2  14s. 

Mr.  Reed  was  satisfied  to  receive  back  his  money, 
but  especially  delighted  to  find  such  an  example  of 
honesty,  where  he  least  expected  it. 

Owing  to  the  illness  of  Mr.  Reed's  little  daughter 
Mary,  whom  he  finally  buried  in  Cape  Town,  he  was 
detained  there  many  weeks.  It  was  a  time  of  great 
distress  to  the  Cape  Town  people,  and  Mr.  Reed  was 


80 


CAPE   TOWN. 


providentially  detained  to  minister  the  Word  of  Life 
to  perishing  hundreds  who  were  dying  with  the 
small-pox.  The  disease,  which  was  of  the  most  viru- 
lent type,  had  been  communicated  to  the  town  from 
d  slaver,  which  had  been  captured,  and  brought  into 
Table  Bay,  with  its  living  freight  of  wretched  cap- 
tives. It  spread  rapidly  over  the  town,  causing  a 
panic  which  nearly  suspended  all  kinds  of  business, 
except  that  of  doctors,  nurses,  undertakers  and 
grave-diggers.  Money  in  payment  of  debts  was  re- 
fused, until  it  had  been  dipped  into  vinegar,  and 
laid  out  to  dry.  The  hospitals  were  crowded,  and 
then  the  municipal  Government  had  a  large  build- 
ing, two  miles  out  of  town,  fitted  up,  and  filled  with 
decaying,  dying  sufferers.  Mr.  Reid  and  his  family 
were  boarding  with  Mrs.  Gunn,  who  kept  a  first- 
class  boarding-house,  which  was  well-filled  with 
Government  officers  and  distinguished  travellers. 

All  who  are  acquainted  with  Mr.  Reid's  labours 
among  all  sorts  of  adventurers  in  Tasmania  and 
Australia,  know  that  he  would  not  stop  a  day  in  any 
place  without  preaching  Christ  to  the  people,  pub- 
licly or  privately  ;  so  in  Cape  Town  he  at  once  went 
to  work  for  his  Master,  but  for  a  time,  for  prudential 
reasons,  he  avoided  contact  with  the  small-pox  pa- 
tients. Soon,  however,  he  was  waited  on  by  two 
pious  soldiers,  Sergeant  Runciman,  and  a  fellow 
sergeant,  who  informed  him  that  there  were  hun- 
dreds of  men  and  women  dying  in  the  new  extem- 
porized hospital  beyond  the  town,  and  not  a  soul  to 


SMALL- POX    HAZARDS.  81 

speak  a  word  of  comfort  to  them,  or  tell  them  how 
to  receive  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Saviour.  The  sol- 
diers begged  Mr.  Heed  to  become  the  volunteer 
chaplain  to  that  hospital,  who,  upon  a  little  reflec- 
tion responded,  "I  will."  When  Mrs.  Gunn's 
boarders  heard  of  it,  they  had  a  meeting,  and  after 
discussing  the  subject,  decided  that  Mr.  Reed  should 
not  go,  lest  he  might  bring  the  contagion  into  the 
house,  and  hazard  the  lives  of  the  whole  of  them, 
and  that  if  he  should  persist  in  carrying  out  his 
purpose  he  must  remove  from  Mrs.  Gunn's  house. 

To  all  this  Mr.  Reed  replied,  "  It  will  be  a  very 
great  inconvenience  for  my  family,  with  a  sick  child, 
to  leave,  and  go  we  -know  not  whither,  but  I  believe 
it  is  my  duty  to  go,  and  do  what  I  can  for  the  sick 
and  dying.  I  will  commit  the  whole  matter  to 
God,  do  my  duty,  and  leave  all  consequences  with 
Him." 

So  he  went  daily  till  the  plague  abated.  He  took 
them  by  tiers  or  sections,  as  they  lay,  and  spoke  to 
them  personally  and  collectively,  and  told  them  how, 
by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  should  sur- 
render their  poor  diseased  bodies  and  souls  to  God, 
and  receive  the  sympathizing  Jesus,  who  was  saying 
to  them,  "  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labour,  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  A  speech- 
less dying  girl,  with  smiling  face,  drew  a  Bible  from 
under  her  pillow  and  showed  it  to  Mr.  Reed,  indica- 
ting by  signs  that  her  title  was  clear  to  a  mansion  in 
heaven.     On  one  occasion,  two  persons,  with  whom 


32  CAPE    TOWN. 

lie  conversed  as  he  passed  in,  were  dead  before  lie 
got  back.  He  had  hope  in  the  death  of  some,  and 
the  Judgment  alone  will  reveal  the  number  "who 
were  snatched  as  brands  from  the  burning  "  through 
his  agency  during  those  trying  weeks.  God  took 
care  of  His  servant,  and  he  heard  nothing  more 
about  his  having  to  change  his  quarters,  but  re- 
mained quietly  at  Mrs.  Gunn's  house,  which  was  one 
of  but  very  few  houses  in  the  city  that  entirely 
escaped  the  dreadful  visitation. 

Rev.  Mr.  Hodgson,  who  had  been  labouring  for 
pome  years  as  a  Wesleyan  missionary  among  the 
natives  in  the  Orange  River  Country,  was  then 
superintendent  of  the  Cape  Town  circuit,  and  greatly 
interested  Mr.  Reed  with  a  narrative  of  his  adven- 
tures in  the  interior,  and  introduced  to  him  a  Chris- 
tian native  man  who  had  just  come  with  a  wagon 
from  Orange  river  to  Cape  Town. 

This  native  man  was  a  Christian  hero,  as  the 
following  facts  related  by  Mr.  Hodgson  to  Mr.  Eeed 
will  show.  The  lions  in  the  Orange  River  country, 
when  they  get  old  and  too  stiff,  or  too  lazy  to  follow 
their  trade  of  catching  bucks  and  other  active 
animals,  sometimes  crouch  about  the  kraals,  and 
pounce  upon  a  man  ;  and  when  they  begin  that  kind 
of  work  they  soon  acquire  such  cannibal  proclivities, 
as  to  become  very  troublesome  customers. 

An  old  lion  had  been  making  some  such  unwelcome 
visits  to  the  kraal  to  which  this  Christian  native  be- 
longed, and  one  day  he  and  two  others  took  each  a 


AFRICAN    MARTYR.  33 

gun,  and  went  out  in  search  of  him,  hoping  to  make 
a  final  settlement  with  him.  A  few  miles  distant 
from  the  kraal,  passing  over  the  brow  of  a  ridge  into 
a  little  vale,  they  suddenly  surprised  a  large  lion, 
feeding  on  the  remains  of  an  animal  carcass.  The 
lion  preferring  fresh  meat  seemed  glad  to  see  them, 
and  without  ceremony  advanced  to  give  them  a 
greeting.  The  men,  in  their  sudden  fright,  declined 
the  interview,  and  ran  for  life.  The  Christian  man 
quite  outran  his  two  heathen  compatriots ;  but  as  he 
was  making  away  with  himself  as  fast  as  he  could, 
the  thought  struck  him,  "  One  of  those  men  will  be 
killed ;  neither  is  prepared  to  die  !  I  am  prepared, 
thank  God  !  I  had  better  die,  and  give  them  time 
for  repentance  ! "  He  instantly  stopped,  and  faced 
about ;  the  two  men  passed  him,  and  before  he  could 
transfer  his  thoughts  from  his  heroic  consent  to  die 
for  his  heathen  neighbour,  to  a  purpose  of  self-defence 
with  his  gun,  the  lion  was  upon  him.  With  the 
force  of  a  mighty  bound,  the  lion  struck  him  on  the 
breast  with  his  paw,  and  tore  off  the  skin  and  flesh 
to  the  bone.  Then  with  his  fore-feet  upon  the  body 
of  his  victim,  he  took  one  of  his  arms  in  his  mouth, 
and  craunched  and  mangled  it.  Then  he  got  the 
stock  of  the  gun  between  his  teeth,  and  ground  it  to 
splinters.  Meantime  the  other  two  men  looked 
back,  and  seeing  their  friend  down,  braced  them- 
selves up  for  the  rescue.  They  returned  near  enough 
for  a  sure  shot,  and  both  together  took  good  aim,  and 
the  lion  dropped  dead  beside  his  bleeding  victim. 

D 


84  CAPE    TOWN. 

Brother  Reed  examiaed  the  deep  scars  left  by  the 
paw  of  the  lion,  which  the  noble  fellow  would  carry 
to  his  grave.  "  Scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  will 
one  die,  yet  peradventure  for  a  good  man  some 
would  even  dare  to  die ;  but  God  commendeth  his 
love  toward  us,  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners 
Christ  died  for  us."  And  here  was  one  of  Africa's 
sable  sons  so  imbued  with  the  self- sacrificing 
spirit  of  Jesus,  that  even  for  a  bad  man  he  was 
willing  to  die. 

On  my  first  Sabbath  in  Cape  Town — April  1st 
— I  preached  at  half-past  10  a.m.,  in  Burg  Street 
Wesley  an  Church,  which  will  accommodate  about  500 
persons.  On  this  occasion  it  was  not  filled  by  one- 
third  ;  but  the  Holy  Spirit  was  manifested  in  mercy 
to  many  hearts.  Rev.  Brother  Calvert,  and  wife, 
were  present,  and  in  the  afternoon  and  "evening 
Brother  Calvert  preached  there,  while  I,  at  the 
same  hours,  preached  at  Rondebosch  Wesleyan 
Chapel,  four  miles  out.  The  limited  capacity  of 
the  chapels,  and  the  smallness  of  the  congrega- 
tions, contrasted  unfavourably  with  the  fine  churches, 
and  packed  audiences,  of  Australia.  During  that 
week,  after  several  days  of  inquiry,  we  secured, 
what  we  considered,  under  the  circumstances,  good 
boarding  accommodation,  at  a  more  reasonable  rate 
than  we  were  paying  at  the  hotel,  and  sought  infor- 
mation in  regard  to  the  field  I  might  successfully 
cultivate  during  my  sojourn  of  six  months.  I 
learned   that    the    English    work  in  the   Western 


SMALL    BEGINNINGS   OF  A  GREAT   WORK.  35 

Province  was  very  limited,  the  mass  of  the  people 
composing  our  societies  being  coloured,  speaking 
Dutch,  to  whom  I  could  not  preach.  I  learned  that 
we  had  a  much  better  English  cause  in  the  Eastern 
Province,  500  miles  distant,  and  in  Natal  1,000  miles 
distant,  but  that  there  were  only  two  places  in  the 
Eastern  Province,  and  two  in  Natal,  where  I  could 
get  a  congregation  of  any  size  speaking  English,  so 
1  began  to  conclude  that  my  working-time  in  Africa 
would  be  reduced  to  three  instead  of  six  months.  On 
the  7th  of  April  I  attended  the  anniversary  meeting 
of  the  Wesley  an  Sunday-schools,  and  delivered  an 
address  on  the  Gospel  doctrine  of  having  all  the 
children  converted,  and  trained  for  God.  Rev. 
Andrew  Murray  followed  with  words  of  earnestness 
on  the  same  subject. 

Brother  Filmer,  one  of  the  superintendents,  in  his 
speech,  said,  "  Seventeen  years  ago  we  had  a  revival 
in  this  town  ;  about  fifty  souls  were  soundly  converted 
to  God ;  some  of  them  have  become  missionaries,  and 
others  remain  useful  members  of  the  Church.  Then, 
five  years  ago,  we  had  another  revival,  principally 
among  the  Sunday-school  children.  About  forty 
professed  to  find  peace  with  God.  Some  of  them 
have  fallen  away,  but  the  most  of  them  have  re- 
mained steadfast ;  and  I  find  some  of  them  among  our 
Sunday-school  teachers  now,  and  others  are  useful 
members  of  the  Church.  I  am  now  feeling,  hoping, 
and  believing,  that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  another  out- 
pouring of  the  Holy  Spirit."     I  thought,  "  Well, 


36  CAPE    TOWN 

such  revivals  during  a  period  of  seventeen  years  are 
much  better  than  nothing,  hut  fall  very  far  short  of 
God's  purpose,  and  provisions  in  Christ,  and  the 
spiritual  demands  of  nearly  30,000  sinners." 

On  Sabbath,  the  8th  of  April,  I  commenced  a 
series  of  special  services  in  Burg  Street  Wesleyan 
Chapel,  which  was  kept  up  for  nine  days,  during 
which  I  preached  thirteen  sermons.  A  few  seekers 
came  forward  the  first  night,  ten,  and  upwards, 
each  night  of  the  series,  till  the  last,  when  the 
altar  was  crowded  with  about  thirty  seekers  ;  but 
our  congregations  were  not  large,  and  the  whole 
machinery  of  Church  agency  seemed  very  weak. 
The  members  of  the  church  seemed  very  willing 
to  do  what  they  could,  and  I  believe  they  were 
much  strengthened  ;  and  twenty-one  souls  were 
reported  by  Brother  Hardey  as  giving  satisfactory 
testimony  to  the  fact   of  their  conversion  to   God. 

On  the  Wednesday  night,  of  our  week  of  special 
services,  we  had  with  us  Rev.  Win.  Impey,  Chairman 
of  the  Graham's  Town  district.  He  had  been  twenty- 
seven  years  a  missionary  in  Africa,  a  good  preacher, 
and  a  man  of  fine  administrative  ability.  He  is  a  son- 
in-law  of  Rev.  Wm.  Shaw,  so  well  known  as  the  apostle 
of  Methodist  Christianity  in  the  Eastern  Province  and 
Kaffraria,  and  the  President  of  the  English  Wesleyan 
Conference  for  the  year  1866.  Eev.  Mr.  Impey  was 
on  his  way  to  England  as  a  representative  to  the  Con- 
ference, and  Mrs.  Impey  to  see  her  father  and  friends. 
He  had  with  him  a  most  complimentary  testimonial, 


WORKING    UNDER    DIFFICULTIES.  37 

for  Mr.  Shaw,  signed  by  1,400  persons  in  the  Eastern 
Province,  to  remind  their  old  pioneer  friend  that 
they  had  not  forgotten  him. 

Brother  Impey,  on  his  own  behalf,  and  on  behalf 
of  the  ministers  in  his  district,  gave  me  a  cordial 
welcome  to  South  Africa,  and  a  pressing  invitation 
to  visit  Graham's  Town.  "  I'll  give  you  the  keys," 
said  he,  "  and  you  may  go  into  my  circuit  and  do  as 
you  please." 

"  O,  I  thank  you,  Brother  Impey,"  I  replied,  "  for 
your  expression  of  confidence,  but  I  do  not  wish  the 
keys  of  any  man's  circuit.  When  I  accept  the  invi- 
tation of  a  minister  to  work  in  his  circuit  or  church,  it 
is  simply  that,  under  the  leading  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
I  may  assist  him  and  his  people  in  their  great  work. 
It  is  my  rule  not  to  work  in  a  church  in  the  absence 
of  the  pastor  ;  but  as  you  have  left  such  a  noble 
brother  as  Kev.  Thomas  Guard — two  of  whose 
brothers,,  ministers  in  the  Irish  Conference,  I  know 
— as  your  representative,  I  accept  your  kind  invita- 
tion." 

We  had  so  many  seekers  the  last  night  in  Cape 
Town,  that  I  felt  rather  sorry  to  leave  ;  but 
I  had  to  go  then,  or  wait  probably  a  month  for 
the  next  regular  steamer.  So,  on  Wednesday  the 
18th  of  April,  I  took  passage  in  the  steamer  "  Natal," 
a  clean,  comfortable  little  boat  of  400  tons,  for  Port 
Elizabeth.  We  expected  to  reach  Algoa  Bay  on 
Friday;  but  in  consequence  of  head  winds  and  rough 
weather,  we  did  not  arrive  till  Saturday  afternoon. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

PORT    ELIZABETH. 

Rev.  John  Richards,  the  superintendent  of  Port 
Elizabeth  Circuit,  met  me  at  the  wharf,  and  kindly 
conducted  me  to  his  house.  Brother  Hardey  had 
written  to  him  that  I  was  coming,  but  he  did  not 
know  definitely  when,  so  there  was  no  announce- 
ment of  our  contemplated  meetings.  Brother 
Richards  was  very  glad  to  have  me  hold  a  series  of 
services,  but  thought  it  a  most  unfavourable  time  to 
commence,  because  of  a  number  of  counter  attrac- 
tions : — 

"  1.  The  new  Roman  Catholic  Church,  in  Port 
Elizabeth,  is  to  be  opened  to-morrow,  with  imposing 
ceremonies,  to  be  continued  through  most  of  the 
week,  and  a  great  deal  of  public  interest  and  curiosity 
have  been  excited,  and  large  expectations  are  enter- 
tained. " 

"  2.  The  newly-arrived  Independent  minister  is 
to  be  installed  to-morrow,  and  to  preach  his  first 
sermons,  and  receive  his  friends  at  a  public  tea- 
meeting  on  Wednesday  evening." 

These  great  coming   events   had   been  duly  an- 


DULL   PROSPECTS.  39 

nounced,  and  were  the  talk  of  the  town ;  but  it  was 
not  known  that  I  was  even  expected,  for  Brother  R. 
himself  had  only  notice  of  it  a  day  or  two  before. 

I  replied,  "  I  have  come,  I  believe,  in  the  order 
of  Providence,  knowing  nothing  of  these  things. 
We  are  not  responsible  for  any  of  these  adverse 
influences,  nor  under  any  obligation  to  turn  aside 
for  them  ;  I  have  nothing  to  do,  but  go  forward 
and  do  what  God  may  open  before  me,  as  my  duty. " 

As  it  was  important  that  the  public  should  have 
notice  of  our  contemplated  series  of  meetings,  I 
modestly  said  to  Brother  R. 

"  In  Ireland,  they  would  in  such  a  case  get  a  lot 
of  little  handbills  printed  for  private  circulation,  and 
send  them  to  all  the  families  they  might  desire 
specially  to  invite  to  our  meetings.  In  Melbourne 
they  would  have  large  posters  put  up  all  over 
the  city  straightway,  and  let  everybody  know  what 
we  proposed  to  do." 

He  thought  it  rather  late  for  anything  of  that 
sort.  "But/'  said  he,  "I  will  go  down  town  and 
tell  some  of  our  friends,  and  request  them  to  inform 
others." 

I  proposed  to  accompany  him.  We  went  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  down  the  principal  business 
street,  and  I  was  conducted  into  a  substantial  stone 
chapel,  with  end  gallery,  deep  pews,  and  doors  to 
guard  the  way  into  them  ;  an  organ  in  the  gallery, 
and  at  the  opposite  end,  well  up  toward  the  ceiling, 
a  small  old-fashioned  pulpit.    That  was  the  Wesley aa 


40  POItT    ELIZABETH. 

Chapel,  large  enough  to  seat  about  400  persons.  It 
had  stood  there  twenty-five  years,  our  principal  place 
of  worship  in  a  town  containing  a  population  of 
11,G33,  of  whom  7,120  are  whites,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  English.  Port  Elizabeth  too,  which  was 
founded  as  early  as  1820,  is  the  principal  "Port  of 
entry,"  for  the  Eastern  Province  of  Cape  Colony,  the 
"Free  State/'  and  "Transvaal  Republics," in  the  in- 
terior, and  boasts  a  much  larger  export  than  Cape 
Town.  The  Episcopalians,  Roman  Catholics,  Inde- 
pendents, Presbyterians,  and  even  the  Mohammedans, 
have  each  a  good  church  edifice.  Brother  Richards 
said  : — 

"  We  were  the  first  in  this  field,  and  have  lost  a 
good  congregation  for  want  of  suitable  church  ac- 
commodation. I  tried  hard,  three  years  ago,  to  per- 
suade the  trustees  to  build  a  good  church,  and  the 
Wesleyans  here  were  then  well  able  to  do  it ;  but 
divided  councils  prevailed,  and  the  thing  was  post- 
poned. Since  then  great  financial  reverses  have 
fallen  on  the  town,  and  now  we  are  obliged  to  wait 
for  better  times." 

In  came  the  chapel-keeper  and  Brother  R.  said 
to  him,  "  Tell  the  people  that  a  stranger  will  preach 
for  us  to-morrow." 

Then  we  went  to  several  shops,  and  I  waited  out- 
side, while  Brother  R.  went  in  to  tell  them  about 
the  arrival  of  a  stranger.  But  I  thought  my  good 
brother  was  not  "  raising  the  breeze  "  fast  enough, 
and  that  if  we  had  to  "  blow  our  own  trumpet,"  we 


"  BLOWING   OUR   OWN    TRUMPET."  4l 

had  better  do  it  effectively.  So  I  then  went  in  too. 
He  introduced  me  as  "  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor,  who  has 
been  preaching  recently  at  the  Cape." 

Thought  I,  "  Dear  me,  if  I  have  no  greater  prestige 
than  what  I  gained  at  the  Cape,  it  will  not  fill  our 
little  chapel  to-morrow."  So  when  he  told  the  shop- 
keepers to  tell  their  customers  that  "  a  stranger 
would  preach  at  the  "Wesleyan  Chapel  to-morrow/' 
I  threw  in  a  few  qualifying  terms,  such  "as  Cali- 
fornia,"—"Australia,"— "A  work  of  God/'—"  Bring 
your  friends,  and  have  them  saved  by  the  mighty 
Jesus  ;  God  hath  sent  Him  for  that  purpose,  and 
they  ought  to  receive  Him  gladly."  In  passing 
along  I  was  introduced  to  a  Local  Preacher,  and 
to  help  him  gird  on  his  armour,  I  gave  him  our 
plan  of  procedure,  with  a  few  illustrative  facts. 
When  I  told  him  that  we  had  very  orderly  meetings, 
and  closed  them  as  early  as  10  p.m.,  he  broke  out  in 
one  of  those  incredulous  laughs  for  which  the  Lord 
reproved  Sarah.  "  I  would  be  glad,"  said  he,  "  to 
see  such  things  in  Port  Elizabeth,  but  cannot  see 
how  they  can  be  brought  about ;  why,  our  people 
here/'  he  added,  "  can  hardly  wait  till  8  o'clock, 
much  less  10." 

"0,  well,"  I  replied,  "we  will  dismiss  them  each 
night  as  early  as  eight  o'clock,  at  the  close  of  the 
sermon,  and  give  all  an  opportunity  to  leave  who 
wish  to  do  so." 

He  replied,  "  You  don't  know  the  Port  Elizabeth 
people  as  I  do,  or  you   would  not  entertain  such 


42  PORT   ELIZABETH. 

hopes."  After  we  had  made  our  round  among  the 
shops,  we  spent  the  evening  with  Mr.  Sydney 
Hill,  of  the  mercantile  firm  of  "  Savage  and 
Hill,  41,  Bow  Lane,  Cheapside,  London,  and  Port 
Elizabeth."  Brother  Hill  is  a  very  intelligent 
thorough  business  man,  a  zealous  Wesleyan  Chris- 
tian, Superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school,  Class- 
Leader,  and  altogether  one  of  those  noble  men  whom 
the  Lord  distributes  through  the  world  where  they 
are  most  needed.  His  lady  too  is  a  person  of  rare 
excellence.  Brother  Hill  was  full  of  hope,  "  and 
believed  that  the  work  of  God  in  the  awakening  and 
conversion  of  sinners  had  already  commenced,  and 
we  would  see  better  days  in  Port  Elizabeth."  After 
spending  a  couple  of  days  very  pleasantly  with 
Brother  and  Sister  Richards,  I  then,  according  to 
previous  arrangement,  made  my  home  at  Brother 
Hill's. 

On  Sabbath  morning  we  had  the  chapel  more  than 
half  full.  Brother  E,.  read  Mr.  Wesley's  abridg- 
ment of  the  "  Morning  Service,"  I  preached,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit  wrought  as  in  days  of  old. 

At  3  p.m.  I  preached  to  the  children.  The  chapel 
was  well  filled,  but  not  crowded  ;•  but  we  had  still 
more  out  in  the  evening.  About  8  p.m.,  after  the 
sermon,  I  dismissed  the  congregation ;  but  most  of 
them  kept  their  seats,  preferring  to  remain  for  the 
prayer-meeting. 

After  explaining  our  method  of  conducting  a 
prayer-meeting,  I  said,   "If  there  are  any  sinners 


MR.    SYDNEY    HILL,    "MINE    HOST."  43 

here  who  feel  the  awakening  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and,  like  the  awakened  souls  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  wTish  to  know  what  to  do,  they  may  come 
forward  to  this  altar  of  prayer,  and  we  will  tell  you 
what  we  did  when  we  were  in  your  sad  state,  and 
how  we  obtained  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ." 
Thirteen  adults  came  forward  as  seekers,  and  about 
half  of  them  professed  to  find  peace  with  God. 
I  found  we  had  some  good  workers,  who  came  up 
promptly,  and  wrought  effectively. 

At  a  quarter  past  nine  Brother  H.  said,  "  "With 
Brother  Taylor's  consent  we  will  close  the  meeting 
for  this  evening."  I  felt  sorry  to  close  so  early,  for 
a  number  were  near  the  strait  gate,  and  striving 
with  many  tears  to  enter  in,  whom  I  had  not  had 
time  to  speak  to  personally,  but  I  deferred  to  my 
superintendent,  as  the  best  thing  probably  under  the 
circumstances,  and  the  meeting  was  promptly  closed. 

When  we  got  back  to  the  Mission  House,  Brother 
R.  said,  "  I  feel  rebuked,  for  I  did  not  think  that  one 
person  would  come  forward  to  the  altar  at  this  early 
stage  of  the  meeting,  and  especially  the  persons  who 
did  come."  Sister  R.  also  upbraided  herself  for 
having  her  faith  outdone.  They  were  both,  however, 
greatly  delighted  and  encouraged. 

Brother  Richards  was  one  of  Dr.  Hannah's  first 
graduates  from  "  Didsbury."  He  is  a  thorough 
student  now,  and  I  believe  a  man  of  scholarly  attain- 
ments. I  am  told  that  he  is  a  good  preacher,  a  most 
industrious  pastor,  and  an  ardent  friend.     His  wife, 


44  PORT   ELIZABETH. 

though  delicate  in  health,  is  a  true  missionary  helper. 
He  came  first  to  the  Colony  in  1837. 

I  spent  two  weeks  in  Port  Elizabeth,  preached 
sixteen  sermons,  and  lectured  one  night  on  "  Remi- 
niscences of  Palestine."  We  had  from  ten  to  twenty 
seekers  forward  every  night,  and  conversions  to  God 
on  each  occasion,  but  how  many  were  saved  I  know  not, 
as  the  minister  said  he  knew  them,  and  did  not,  so  far 
as  I  know,  keep  a  record  of  their  names.  I  had  preach- 
ing service  on  Saturday  night  for  the  natives — Kaffirs 
and  Fingoes.  The  chapel,  which  will  seat  350  per- 
sons, was  filled.  William  Barnabas,  "a  good  man/' 
Local  Preacher  and  native  teacher,  was  my  interpreter. 
I  felt  so  awkward  in  preaching  through  an  inter- 
preter, and  being  very  weary  from  excessive  labours 
through  the  week,  I  did  not  enjoy  the  service,  and  saw 
but  little  indication  of  good  from  the  effort.  On  the 
second  Sabbath, besides  the  regular  morning  and  even- 
ing preaching  for  the  whites,  I  preached  in  the  after- 
noon from  the  Court-house  steps.  A  little  shower  of 
rain  at  the  time  of  assembling  kept  many  away, 
but  we  had  out  about  600  persons,  and  it  was  a 
profitable  service ;  I  thus  preached  the  Gospel 
to  two  or  three  hundred  who  would  not  otherwise 
have  heard  it  from  me.  During  preaching  a  funeral 
procession  passed  close  by.  The  subject  suiting  the 
occasion,  I  illustrated  it  by  the  dead  returning  to 
dust. 

Then,  a  little  later,  the  police  came  along  with  a 
bloody-faced  prisoner,   followed  by  a  rabble,  and  I 


FIRST    NATIVE    SERVICE.  45 

said,  "  Look  at  him,  '  The  way  of  transgressors  is 
hard/  "  and  got  an  illustration  of  my  subject  out  of 
him. 

At  the  close,  a  man  came  and  shook  my  hand, 
saying,  "I  have  heard  you  preach  to  the  gam- 
blers in  San  Francisco,  and  to  the  sailors  on  Long 
Wharf,  and  I  heard  you  give  a  singular  reproof  to 
some  sailors  that  I'll  never  forget.  They  were  load- 
ing a  barge  with  coal,  and  one,  with  a  profane  oath, 
wished  the  coals  in  II .  '  That  is  quite  unneces- 
sary, my  friend,'  said  you,  '  for  if  j'ou  are  so  unhappy 
as  to  go  down  to  that  place,  you  will  find  it  hot 
enough,  and  plenty  of  fuel/  " 

When  I  went  to  the  Eastern  Province  it  was  with 
the  purpose  of  spending  one  month  there,  dividing 
the  time  between  Port  Elizabeth  and  Graham's 
Town,  and  another  month  in  Natal.  I  had  my 
return- ticket,  for  which  I  had  paid  £17,  extending 
to  three  months,  but  I  soon  found  that  the  Eng- 
lish population  cJ  the  Eastern  Province  was  much 
greater  than  ir.y  limited  information  had  led  me  to 
suppose,  and  that  my  time  should  be  extended  to 
at  least  two  months  for  the  Eastern  Province  alone. 

On  the  evening  of  my  arrival  in  Port  Elizabeth, 
Brother  Richards  introduced  me  to  the  first  Kaffir  I 
had  ever  seen.  He  stood  before  me  six  feet  four 
inches,  with  finely  developed  form,  good  head,  very 
pleasant  countenance,  and  a  superior  display  of 
ivory.  "  This  man,"  said  Brother  P.,  "  is  one  of 
our  Local  Preachers,  Joseph  Tale,  from  the  Annshaw 


46  PORT    ELIZABETH. 

Circuit,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  the 
interior."  Through  Wni.  Barnabas  I  asked  hira 
many  questions  about  the  work  of  God  among  his 
people.  He  gave  a  very  encouraging  account  of  the 
number  and  steadfastness  of  their  people  on  the 
Annshaw  Mission.  I  told  him  that  when  my  boxes 
were  opened  I  would  give  him  some  books.  He  said 
his  children  could  read  English,  and  they  would  read 
them  to  him.  I  felt  great  sympathy  with  the  native 
work,  and  deep  regret  that  I  could  not  preach  to 
them.  I  had  no  faith  in  successful  preaching 
through  an  interpreter.  I  asked  my  new  tall  brother 
to  attend  our  meetings  next  day,  but  he  said  his 
teams  had  gone  out  of  town  that  day,  that  they  had 
to  go  out  some  distance  homeward  to  get  grass  for 
their  oxen,  but  that  he  and  a  party  of  wagoners 
would  keep  the  Sabbath  on  the  road,  and  that  he  had 
an  appointment  to  preach  to  them  there.  A  good 
example  for  their  white  brethren. 

Brother  Richards  made  me  a  plan  for  a  two 
months'  tour,  embracing  Graham's  Town,  King  Wil- 
liam's Town,  Queen's  Town,  Cradock,  and  Somer- 
set, each  appointment  about  eighty  miles  apart,  in 
travelling  from  one  to  the  other.  I  would  have 
two  weeks  for  Graham's  Town,  and  a  week  for  each 
of  the  other  places,  and  a  week  at  Port  Elizabeth, 
on  my  return,  in  waiting  for  a  steamer  to  take  me 
on  to  Natal.  He  accordingly  informed  the  ministers 
of  my  arrival,  and  they  all  wrote  me  a  cordial  invi- 
tation to  visit  them,  and  with  them  came  pressing 


OPENING    PROSPECTS.  47 

invitations  from  Salem,  Bathurst,  Fort  Beaufort,  and 
Uitenhage  Circuits.  The  last  two  I  added  to  my 
plan.  I  made  no  provision  for  preaching  to  the 
natives,  for  not  knowing  their  language  I  did  not 
hope  to  be  able  to  work  successfully  among  them, 
but  prayed  and  hoped  that  indirectly  they  would 
derive  much  good  from  a  revival  of  God's  work 
among  the  English. 

My  next  move  was  to  Uitenhage,  which  is  an  old 
Dutch  town,  twenty  miles  distant  from  Port  Eliza- 
beth. 


CHAPTER    V. 

UITENHAGE. 

On  the  5th  of  May,  I  came  from  Port  Elizabeth, 
to  this  beautiful  town.  At  Port  Elizabeth,  I  had 
been  sojourning  a  few  days  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
W.  Jones,  a  somewhat  eccentric  but  very  clever 
genial  Welshman,  and  a  superior  Local  Preacher 
in  the  Wesleyan  Church.  His  wife,  a  very  good 
woman,  is  a  class-leader ;  his  daughter  Jessie,  a  fine 
young  lady,  and  several  sons  were  unconverted. 

Brother  Jones  gave  me  the  use  of  his  carriage  and 
two  horses,  and  his  son  Philip  to  drive  me  to  Uiten- 
hage.  We  took  with  us,  Mrs.  John  Richards,  and 
Miss  Jessie  Jones.  Sister  Richards  was  in  such  a 
poor  state  of  health  when  I  arrived,  that  she  feared 
she  would  not  be  able  to  attend  many  of  my  meet- 
ings, but,  as  she  entered  into  the  work,  her  health 
improved,  and  after  two  weeks'  special  services  at 
home,  was  now  going  to  help  me  a  week  among  her 
friends  in  (Jitenhage,  among  whom  she  was  blessed 
in  doing  a  work  for  God.  During  our  journey  that 
day,  she  took  occasion  to  say,  that  she  had  been 
greatly   edified   by   my    Gospel  ministrations,    and 


TRIP    TO    UITENHAGE.  49 

was  much  pleased  with  me  in  everything  she  had  seen, 
except  my  beard,  in  regard  to  which  she  put  me  on 
my  defence.  I  said,  "  Sister  Richards,  when  I  was  in 
Belfast  a  few  years  ago,  a  Primitive  minister  waited 
on  me  to  say,  '  There  are  some  very  good  people  in 
this  city  who  are  greatly  prejudiced  against  a  beard, 
and  I  think  you  can  be  more  useful  among  them  if 
you  will  go  to  a  barber  and  get  shaved.     In  reply 
to  that    brother  I  said,    '  I   certainly   would  not  do 
anything  which  would  be  damaging  to  any  person 
following   my  example ;  for  instance,    I   don't   use 
tobacco  in  any  form,   I   don't  use  wine  or  spirits, 
except  sacramentally  or  medicinally.     I   have  been 
a  total  abstainer  from  my  youth,   for  the  good  of 
others,  as  well  as  for  myself.     As  to  the  beard,  while 
in  the  genial  climate  of  California,    with  youthful 
vigour  on  my  side,  I  did  not  feel  the  need  of  it, 
and   wasted  much  precious   time  in  cutting  it  off, 
but  having  returned  from  California  to  the  Eastern 
States  of  America,  my  thin  jaws  were  exposed  to  the 
north-west  blasts  of  New  York,  Wisconsin,  and  Iowa, 
which    gave    me    neuralgia,    and   I    suffered   what 
appeared  to  be  almost  the  pains  of  death.    So  I  found 
that  I  was  obliged  to  seek  protection  for  my  face, 
and  instead  of  bundling  up  in   a   sheep-skin,   and 
an   artificial  respirator,  the   constant  re-adjustment 
of    which    would  consume   time   and  give    trouble, 
I  just  threw  aside  that  barbarous  instrument,  tho 
razor,    to  see   what   the    Gcd  of  Providence  would 
do  for  me,  and  this  flowing  beard  was  the  result, 

E 


fiO  UITEKHAGE. 

and  it  answered  the  purpose  exactly.  I  soon  got 
well  of  neuralgia,  and  have  never  had  it  since. 
I  have  found  it  a  good  '  comforter,'  a  good  respirator, 
a  good  shield  against  the  reflecting  rays  of  the 
summer  sun,  which  used  always  to  blister  my  face, 
and  crack  my  lips  till  I  could  neither  laugh  nor  sing 
without  the  shedding  of  blood.  Moreover,  it  was  a 
protection  against  gnats  and  flies.  By  a  deep  inspi- 
ration in  preaching,  which  is  essential,  I  used  some- 
times to  take  down  one  of  those  pestiferous  little 
fellows  into  my  throat,  and  then  followed  a  sudden 
change  in  the  exercises.  I  have  suffered  from  none 
of  these  things  since  I  submitted  to  the  Lord's 
arrangement,  planting  the  beard  where  it  was  needed. 
I  have  found  it  of  great  service  to  my  vocal  organs, 
and  hence  necessary  to  my  work  of  preaching  the 
Gospel,  and  to  cut  it  off  is  to  impair  my  work- 
ing effectiveness,  and  so  far  a  sin  against  God.  With 
that,  the  Irish  brother  said,  '  I  suppose  it  is  not 
worth  while  to  say  anything  more  about  it.'  '  No, 
my  dear  brother,  I  cannot  do  a  wrong  thing  on  any 
account,  and  I  also  like  to  help  break  down  an 
unreasonable  prejudice  in  this  matter,  under  the 
influence  of  which  many  a  poor  Irishman  is  daily 
shedding  tears,  under  the  operations  of  an  old 
dull  razor.'  The  good  people  of  Belfast  soon  got 
over  their  prejudice  against  my  beard,  and  we  had 
a  blessed  work  of  God  during  my  stay  among 
them/'  I  repeated  this  Irish  discussion  to  Sister 
Richards   as  we  drove   along,    and   she   could   not 


THE    BEARD    QUESTION.  51 

help  joining  Miss  Jessie  in  a  laugh  at  some  parts  of 
it,  but  still  it  did  not  convince  her  of  the  propriety  of 
a  beard  on  a  minister's  face.  I  then  said,  (i  Surely 
Sister  Richards,  it  cannot  be  a  moral  impropriety  for 
a  minister  to  wear  a  beard,  since  the  Master  Himself 
had  a  beard  ?  " 

"  But  you  have  no  proof,"  she  replied,  "  that  lie 
did  wear  a  beard." 

"  Well,  Sister  Richards,"  said  I,  "  if  I  prove  to  you 
from  the  Bible,  that  the  Great  Teacher  did  have  a 
beard,  will  you  allow  that  to  end  the  discussion  in 
favour  of  the  beard  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I'll  rest  the  case  on  the  Scripture  proof,  if 
you  can  produce  it." 

"  Lest  there  should  be  some  ground  of  mistake  in 
identifying  the  person  of  Christ,  when  He  should 
come  into  the  world,  God,  through  His  holy  prophets, 
advertised  to  the  world,  hundreds  of  years  in  advance, 
all  His  leading  characteristics,  by  the  exact  fulfil- 
ment and  counterpart  of  which,  in  the  person  of 
Christ,  He  should  certainly  be  recognized  as  the 
Messiah  ;  Sister  Richards,  believest  thou  the  pro- 
phets ?  " 

"  Certainly,  I  do." 

"  Very  well,  in  describing  the  prophetic  scene  of 
the  humiliating,  and  excruciating  abuses,  to  be 
endured  by  Christ,  Isaiah,  employing  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Divine  Messenger  of  the  Covenant,  says 
— '  I  gave  my  back  to  the  smiters,  and  my  cheeks  to 
them   that   plucked   off  the   hair/      To  pluck  the 


52  UITENHAGE. 

hair    off  the    head,  or    back   part   of  the   jaw,    is 

nothing  in  comparison  with  the  pain  of  plucking 
it  off  the  cheeks."  The  good  sister  then  subsided. 
We  were  now  nearing  our  journey's  end,  and  after 
a  little  talk  on  personal  holiness  of  heart,  we  drove 
into  the  village,  and  I  was  welcomed  to  the  very 
pleasant  home  of  Cr.ptain  George  Appleby,  who  had 
formerly  been  a  shipmaster,  but  now  for  many  years 
a  resident  in  South  Africa.  He  has  a  large  wool- 
washing  establishment,  nearly  a  mile  above  the  town, 
on  the  Zwart  Kops  river,  employing  a  powerful  steam- 
engine,  and  from  seventy  to  one  hundred  working 
men  and  women,  principally  native  Africans. 

Rev.  Purdon  Smailes,  the  superintendent  of  the 
circuit,  called  in  soon  after  my  arrival,  and  expressed 
his  pleasure  in  having  me  to  help  him  in  his  impor- 
tant work.  He  was  formerly  a  school-teacher,  but  for 
many  years  a  learned,  zealous,  and  useful  "Wesleyan 
minister,  in  South  Africa.  Sister  Appleby  is  one  of 
the  largest  women  I  ever  saw,  but  says  she  has  not 
increased  in  weight  since  she  was  fourteen  years 
old,  so  that  having  learned  to  carry  such  dimen- 
sions in  her  youth,  it  seems  no  burden  at  all,  for 
she  seems  as  active  as  a  lass  of  twenty  years.  She 
is  very  energetic,  but  very  kind-hearted  and  hos- 
pitable. 

Uitenhage  is  an  old  Dutch  town,  located  on  the 
slope  of  a  beautiful  valley,  near  the  banks  of  Zwart 
Kops  river,  with  fine  vales  and  table  lands  in  the 
background,  bounded  by  a  range  of  mountains  east 


DUTCH    REFORMED   CHURCH.  53 

and  north.  Across  the  river,  at  the  rise  of  the  hills,  we 
see  a  heathen  village;  along  the  river  we  see  some 
large  buildings,  and  the  smoke  and  steam  of  the 
engines.  These  are  large  wool-washing  establish- 
ments. Now  we  learn  why  we  saw  hundreds  of  teams 
loaded  with  wool  passing  out  of  Port  Elizabeth, 
where  it  had  been  taken,  and  sold,  the  day  before, 
and  often  the  same  day.  It  is  brought  out  here 
twenty  miles  to  be  washed,  because  of  the  abun- 
dant supply,  and  superior  quality  of  the  water  of 
this  river  for  the  purpose.  The  town  is  supplied 
with  water  from  a  large  spring  rising  out  of  the 
base  of  the  mountain,  which  flows  in,  and  is  so 
distributed  as  to  furnish  several  streets,  with  each 
a  bold  stream,  almost  sufficient  to  propel  the  works 
of  an  overshot-mill. 

The  streets  are  lined  on  each  side  with  rows,  and, 
in  some  cases,  double  rows,  of  large  oaks,  and  Tas- 
manian  blue  gums.  The  buildings  are  nearly  all  large 
one-story  cottages,  painted  white,  with  long  verandahs 
in  front.  Altogether  the  town,  and  surrounding 
scenery,  are  very  beautiful.  The  population  of 
Uitenhage  district  is  7,202,  of  whom  2,859  only  are 
whites,  mostly  Dutch,  the  rest  are  natives. 

The  Dutch  Reformed  Church  have  a  large  com- 
modious place  of  worship  in  Uitenhage,  with  a 
good  evangelical  minister,  Rev.  Mr.  Steytler,  and  a 
large  congregation.  As  the  English  population  is 
small,  and  divided  between  the  Presbyterians  and 
Wesleyans,  we  cannot   muster  a  very  strong  force 


54  CITENI1AGE. 

there.  We  have,  however,  some  very  respectable 
and  influential  Wesleyan  families  in  the  town,  but 
the  Wesleyan  chapel  is  a  very  poor  concern  indeed. 
For  many  years  it  was  the  residence  of  some  old 
denizen,  but,  in  course  of  time,  it  fell  into  the  hands 
of  a  little  pioneer  club  of  Wedeyans,  who  had  learned 
not  to  "despise  the  day  of  small  things,"  and  they 
did  it  up,  and  dubbed  it  a  Wesleyan  chapel,  but  the 
ceiling  is  very  low,  and  it  is  every  way  unsuitable. 
One  would  think,  on  seeing  it,  that  it  should  have 
been  delivered  over  to  the  "  moles  and  bats,'"  long 
ago  ;  at  any  rate,  the  "  bats  "  have  so  far  asserted 
their  claim  as  to  take  possession  of  all  the  upper  part 
of  it,  from  the  ceiling  to  the  roof.  Whoever  may  dis- 
pute their  right  of  possession,  none  are  able  to  dis- 
lodge them,  for  'tis  said  there  are  thousands  of  them, 
and  they  have  lined  their  floor  with  an  excremental 
nuisance  which  will  fairly  drive  the  white  folks  away 
before  long.  It  will  seat  about  two  hundred  persons, 
but  they  cannot  stay  in  it  more  than  another  summer. 
Sister  Appleby  was  working  hard  to  raise  funds  to 
build  a  decent  chapel,  and,  I  believe,  she  will  succeed. 

On  Sabbath  morning,  the  6th  of  May,  we  assem- 
bled in  the  said  Chapel  to  commence  our  series  of 
special  services.  The  place  was  filled  with  a  very 
genteel-looking  audience,  and  I  felt  encouraged  to 
believe  that  we  had  some  good  stuff  to   work  upon. 

Brother  Smailes  read  the  service,  and  commented 
sensibly  on  the  lessons.  The  audience  did  not  seem 
to  take  much  interest  in  the  prayers,  as  only  one 


PREACHING    TO   THE    DUTCH.  55 

man  responded  with  audible  distinctness,  and  he  did 
not  seem  to  be  well  up  in  the  business,  for  he  put  in  a 
response  at  the  wrong  place,  producing  a  ludicrous 
surprise  that  somewhat  excited  the  risibilities  of  some 
of  the  youngsters.  The  Holy  Spirit  graciously 
helped  in  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  that  morning, 
and  we  had  a  solemn  and  profitable  occasion. 

By  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Steytler,  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church  minister,  whom  I  had  met  in  Port  Elizabeth, 
and  his  trustees,  we  had  the  use  of  their  church  at 
8  p.m.,  and  in  the  evening.  Our  congregations 
there  were  large,  and  though  most  of  them  were 
Dutch,  they  knew  the  English  well  enough  to  under- 
stand my  preaching,  and  listened  with  serious  at- 
tention. We  did  not  attempt  to  follow  the  preach- 
ing in  the  evening  with  a  prayer-meeting  there, 
lest  some  of  our  kind  friends  would  think  we  were 
making  too  free  with  the  privileges  they  had  granted 
us.  I  was  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  of  preaching 
to  them,  and  hoped  they  would  carry  the  good  seed 
into  their  closets  at  home,  and  have  it  watered  with 
the  dews  of  grace  which  descend  there. 

On  Monday,  at  11  a.m.,  I  preached  again  in  the 
Wesleyan  Chapel  to  a  better  audience  than  I  supposed 
we  could  get  in  a  week-day. 

After  preaching  on  Monday  night,  I  explained  the 
order  of  our  pra}^er-meetings,  somewhat  as  follows  : — 
"  A  prayer-meeting  should  have  more  of  the  soc  ial 
element  in  it  than  a  preaching  service.  We  have 
two    varieties  of   worship  in  a    prayer- meeting : — 


56  UITENIIAGE. 

public  singing  by  the  congregation,  alternately  with 
prayer,  in  which  one  person  leads  audibly,  for  general 
worship.  Then,  in  an  undertone,  which  need  not  in- 
terfere with  the  solemnity  and  order  of  the  general 
worship,  we  give  the  largest  liberty  for  individual 
efforts  to  bring  souls  to  Christ.  Any  brother  who 
knows  the  Saviour,  and  has  a  friend  here  who  knows 
Him  not,  pray  for  that  friend,  and  if  you  feel  that  by 
the  help  of  the  good  Spirit,  you  can,  by  telling  him 
what  Jesus  hath  done  for  you,  or  by  any  persuasive 
appeals  to  his  conscience,  induce  him  to  turn  to  God, 
you  are  entirely  at  liberty,  any,  or  all  of  you  as  the 
Spirit  may  lead  you,  thus  to  work  for  God  during  the 
prayer  meeting.  I  make  this  explanation  at  this  early 
stage  of  our  series  of  services,  lest  some,  seeing  this 
variety  of  exercise,  might  think  it  a  disorderly  pro- 
ceeding, when  indeed  it  is  in  accordance  with  the 
order  and  design  of  the  meeting  ;  the  low-toned  con- 
versation to  seekers  who  may  be  inquiring  '  What 
must  I  do  to  be  saved  ? '  and  the  earnest  ejaeulct- 
tory  prayer  of  s}rmpathizing  hearts  for  such,  do 
not  indeed  produce  the  least  discord  in  the  har- 
mony of  the  general  worship. 

"  We  have  nothing  new  to  introduce,  but  rather  the 
old  simple  methods  of  the  Gospel.  In  the  great  Pen- 
tecostal awakening  the  poor  sin- strict  en  souls  cried 
out,  '  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ? '  Peter 
did  not  tell  them  to  go  home  and  meditate  in  the 
quiet  solitude  of  their  closets,  and  call  at  his  house 
next  day,  and  he  would  have  a  talk  with  them  on  the 


HOW   TO    LEAD   SEEXEES   TO    CHRIST.  57 

subject.  Nay,  when  the  Spirit  awakens  a  poor  sin- 
ner, He  is  then  waiting  to  lead  that  soul  directly  to 
Jesus.  But  the  poor  stricken  sinner  does  not  know  the 
Holy  Spirit  who  hath  smitten  him  in  love,  and  does 
not  know  Jesus,  nor  where  to  find  Him.  How  appro- 
priate, then,  that  such  should  avowedly  ask,  '  Men 
and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ? '  Should  not  the 
'  Men  and  brethren  '  then,  and  there,  tell  such  poor 
sinners  what  to  do,  and  go  to  work  every  one  of  them 
and  lead  the  poor  seekers  to  Jesus?  That  is  just 
what  they  did  in  Jerusalem,  and  three  thousand  of 
them,  not  only  heard  from  the  lips  of  the  '  Men  and 
brethren,'  who  were  '  working  together  with  God/ 
to  save  them,  what  to  do,  but  at  once,  openly  and 
honestly,  yea,  '  gladly  received  the  Word,  and  were 
baptized,'  that  day.  Now  this  is  the  kind  of  thing 
we  want  to  have  here  in  Uitenhage ;  no  new  thing 
but  the  blessed  old  thing,  which  worked  so  well  long 
before  our  new-formed  methods  of  nice  propriety 
were  invented.  We  are  now  ready  to  converse 
with  any  who  feel  the  awakening  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  help  you  to  grapple  with  your  difficulties, 
tell  you  how  we  went  through  the  same  ordeal 
of  hardness,  darkness,  grief,  guilt,  despair,  hope, 
desire,  fear,  and  the  terrible  swaying  between  two 
mighty  forces,  the  one  attracting  towards  Christ, 
the  other  repelling  by  the  force  of  a  thousand  bad 
associations,  aDd  a  mighty  powor  of  satanic  in- 
fluence. Poor  sinners,  we  know  well  from  sad  ex- 
perience what  you  feel.     We  sympathize  with  you 


58  UITENI1AGE. 

profoundly,  and  we  are  anxious  to  help  you.  We 
cannot  save  you,  but  God  may  use  us  as  agents 
to  lead  you  to  Jesus,  according  to  his  Gospel 
method.  But  unless  you  indicate  your  desire  to 
turn  to  God,  as  did  the  awakened  souls  in  Jerusa- 
lem, in  some  way  or  other,  we  know  not  to  whom 
to  speak,  nor  for  whom  personally  to  pray.  We 
are  willing  to  meet  you  in  any  part  of  the  house, 
but  we  recommend  as  the  most  prompt  and  orderly 
means  to  the  great  end  proposed,  that  all  those 
who  have  counted  'the  cost/  and  who  have  in- 
telligently, deliberately,  determinately,  resolved  to 
seek  the  Lord  now,  '  while  He  may  be  found,'  to 
come  forward  to  this  altar  of  prayer. 

Come  sinners  to  the  Gospel  feast, 

Let  every  soul  be  Jesu's  guest  ; 

Ye  need  not  one  be  left  behind. 

For  God  hath  bidden  all  mankind. 

Come  all  ye  souls  by  sin  opprest, 

Ye  restless  wanderers  after  rest ; 

Ye  poor,  and  maimed,  and  halt,  and  blind, 

In  Christ  a  hearty  welcome  find. 

This  is  the  time,  no  more  delay, 

This  is  the  acceptable  day. 

Come  in  this  moment,  at  His  call, 

And  live  for  Him  who  died  for  all." 

While  singing  this  invitation  hymn,  about  a  dozen 
adult  seekers  came  forward.  Just  at  the  close  of 
the  prayer  that  followed,  as  we  rose  to  sing  again, 
when  everything  was  going  on  in  an  orderly  way 
according  to  the  method  I  had  just  defined,  a  tall 


OUTRAGEOUS    PROCEEDINGS.  59 

voung  Dutchman  rushed  up  the  crowded  aisle  to 
where  I  was  conversing  with  the  seekers,  and  ad- 
dressed me  in  an  angry  shouting  tone, — "  How  dare 
you  introduce  such  blasphemous  proceedings  in  this 
town  ?  I  demand  your  authority  for  such  outrageous 
proceedings  under  a  pretence  of  worshipping  God/' 
repeating  similar  expressions  several  times.  I  took 
him  by  the  arm,  and  kindly  explained  to  him  what 
from  its  novelty  to  him  seemed  so  strange,  and 
begged  him  to  be  seated  near  the  front,  and  see  and 
hear  all  that  was  done  there,  and  satisfy  his  own 
mind  that  this  was,  indeed,  the  work  of  God ;  but 
he  turned  and  hastened  away,  like  the  young 
man  who  seemed  suddenly  to  be  waked  out  of 
sleep,  and  ran  into  the  garden  of  Gethsemane,  and 
laid  hold  on  Jesus  on  the  night  of  his  betrayal. 
The  young  fellow  was  very  respectably  connected  in 
family  relations ;  but  as  I  learned,  got  no  sympathy, 
unless  from  one  man,  but  a  great  deal  of  contempt 
for  his  rash  interference  with  the  peaceable  worship 
of  his  neighbours.  The  meeting  then  went  on 
quietly,  and  several  persons  obtained  peace  with 
God.  But  our  working  force  was  very  small.  The 
Class- Leader,  a  fine  old  man,  was  sick,  so  that  we 
were  deprived  of  his  help. 

On  Thursday  morning  we  were  reinforced  by  the 
arrival  of  Rev.  Brother  Richards,  and  Sister  Hill, 
my  kind  hostess  from  Port  Elizabeth.  At  eleven 
a. ini.,  I  preached  again  to  an  audience  of  increased 
dimensions  and  interest.      At  the  day  services  we 


GO  UITENI1A.GE. 

get  the  wheat  without  the  chaff,  less  bulk,  but 
greater  weight.  Tuesday  evening  we  had  our  little 
chapel  packed,  and  at  the  prayer-meeting  the  altar 
was  crowded  with  seekers.  During  the  progress  of 
the  prayer-meeting,  which  was  solemn,  but  very 
quiet,  a  Mr.  B.  sent  me,  by  a  boy,  the  following 
note : — "  The  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor  will  oblige  by  not 
interfering  with  the  devotions  of  this  meeting  by 
his  audible  conversation."  I  was  simply  conversing 
with  a  seeker  in  a  low  tone,  according  to  our  an- 
nounced plan,  but  Mr.  B.,  who,  I  was  informed,  is 
not  friendly  to  the  cause  of  God  in  any  form,  was 
not  satisfied  to  allow  us  to  proceed  in  our  worship 
according  to  the  dictates  of  our  own  conscience.  I, 
of  course,  made  no  reply  to  his  note,  but  said  to 
some  of  my  friends  after  the  meeting,  "  Satan  is 
getting  more  polite  each  day  of  our  meeting.  Last 
night  he  rushed  in  like  a  roaring  lion  to  devour  the 
prey ;  but  to-night  he  addressed  me  in  a  note  as 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor ;  by  to-morrow  night  he  will 
not  dare  even  to  mutter  in  the  dark,  unless  it  is 
round  the  corners  out  of  sight,  or  in  the  canteen." 
"Wednesday,  at  eleven  a.m.,  I  preached,  and  at  the 
prayer-meeting  following  we  had  some  very  interest- 
ing conversions.  On  Wednesday  night,  after  preach- 
ing, we  had  thirty  persons  forward  as  seekers,  a 
number  of  whom  found  peace ;  and,  as  I  anticipated, 
Satan  could  not  command  an  agent  that  could  "  face 
the  music."  The  silent  solemnity  of  the  occasion 
seemed  to  subdue  opposing  forces.     I  preached  again 


PREACHING    IN    A   WOOLSIIED.  61 

on  Thursday  at  eleven  a.m.,  and  several  persons 
were  saved.  At  three  p.m.  of  that  day,  I  preached 
in  Brother  Appleby's  woolshed  to  the  Kaffirs  in  his 
employ.  We  had  an  audience  of  about  seventy, 
most  of  whom  had  often  heard  the  Gospel,  but  a 
portion  of  them  were  raw  heathens.  I  got  an  un- 
converted, bare-footed,  ragged  Kaffir  to  interpret  for 
me,  and  got  on  much  better  than  I  had  done  before 
with  a  professional  interpreter,  for  he  talked  in  a 
simple,  natural  way.  On  Thursday  night  I  delivered 
a  lecture  in  a  public  school  on  "  Pteminiscences  of 
Palestine/'  and  "St.  Paul  and  his  Times." 

The  number  of  converts,  during  our  brief  series 
in  Uitenhage,  was  not  reported  to  me ;  but  there  was 
manifestly  a  deep  and  general  awakening  in  the 
town,  and  among  the  converts  were  some  influential 
persons,  who  will  make  valuable  members  of  the 
Church,  I  doubt  not. 

On  Friday  we  returned  to  Port  Elizabeth,  where  I 
delivered  a  leture  on  St.  Paid  and  his  Times ;  and  at 
five  a.m.,  Saturday,  my  kind  host,  Brother  Sydney 
Hill,  saw  me  safely  into  the  "Post  cart,"  a  rough 
conveyance  on  two  wheels,  drawn  by  four  horses,  and 
that  day,  wb'le  I  was  resting,  I  was  jolted  over  a 
rough  road,  ninety  miles,  to  Graham's  Town. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Graham's  town. 

Graham's  Town  was  founded  as  a  military  post  in 
1812,  but  received  its  life  and  proportions  from  the 
famous  immigration  of  1820.  The  Colonial  Settle- 
ment of  that  year  in  Albany,  a  few  miles  distant, 
having,  by  the  appointment  of  the  Home  Govern- 
ment, the  Hev.  William  Shaw  for  their  minister,  con- 
tained much  sterling  stuff  for  the  foundations  of 
empire  in  a  new  country.  Those  of  them  better 
adapted  to  mechanical,  commercial,  and  literary  pur- 
suits than  to  farming,  soon  left  their  "  wattle  and 
daub  "  huts  in  the  country,  and  have  gradually  built 
up  this  flourishing  town. 

It  is  situated  in  a  valley,  bounded  by  high  hills, 
near  the  sources  of  the  "  Kowie  River."  Its  houses 
are  principally  of  brick  and  stone,  covered  with 
slate  and  zinc.  They  are  not  generally  over  two 
stories  high.  It  contains  many  fine  gardens  ;  and 
the  streets  are  ornamented,  and  shade5,  mth.  rows  of 
trees,  principally  English  oak,  eucalyptus  (or  Tas- 
mania blue  gum)  and  Kaffir  boom.  The  last  is  in- 
digenous, and  grows  a  large  beautiful  scarlet-coloured 


FIRST    CHAPEL.  63 

flower.  There  is  an  extensive  baiiacks  for  troops, 
both  at  the  east  and  west  ends  of  the  city.  And 
the  continual  presence  of  a  regiment  or  two  of  Eng- 
lish soldiers,  with  their  daily  drill,  and  martial- 
music,  reminds  the  stranger  that,  though  every  thing 
he  sees  there,  is  so  thoroughly  English,  and  home- 
like, he  is  nevertheless  in  a  country  where  Europeans 
have  to  watch,  as  well  as  pray,  and  while  they  trust 
in  a  gracious  Providence,  to  take  Cromwell's  advice, 
and  "  keep  their  powder  dry." 

Graham's  Town  has,  according  to  the  census  of 
1865,  a  white  population  of  5,263,  all  English,  and 
a  few  thousand  Hottentots,  Kaffirs,  and  Fingoes. 
It  has  good  churches ;  three  Episcopalian,  three 
Wesleyan,  two  Baptists,  two  Independent,  and  one 
Roman  Catholic.  It  has  a  public  library,  museum, 
and  botanical  gardens :  two  banks,  one  high  school — 
"Wesleyan,  called,  in  honour  of  the  old  Methodist 
pioneer  of  that  Province,  "  Shaw  College,"  besides 
the  full  compliment  of  educational  and  charitable 
institutions  common  in  such  a  city. 

The  first  Wesleyan  Chapel  there  was  dedicated  in 
1822.  It  would  seat  400  persons.  It  was  followed 
by  another  in  1832,  twice  its  size,  which  cost  £3,000. 
The  former  house  was  given  to  the  natives.  The 
present  principal  Wesleyan  Church  of  Graham's 
Town — "  Commemoration  Chapel,"  is  thus  described 
by  Mr.  Shaw  : — "  The  building  is  in  the  pointed 
style  (Gothic),  well-sustained  in  all  its  parts.  The 
front,  from  the   level  of  the  floor,  is  seventy  feet 


64  Graham's  town. 

high  to  the  top  of  the  centre  pinnacle,  and  it  is  about 
sixty-three  feet  wide,  including  the  buttresses.  The 
interior  dimensions  are  ninety  feet  long  by  fifty 
broad,  and  from  the  floor  to  the  ceiling  it  is  thirty- 
four  feet  in  height.  There  are  two  side,  and  one 
end,  galleries  ;  and  the  building  is  capable  of  accom- 
modating, in  great  comfort,  a  congregation  of  about 
fourteen  hundred  persons."  It  cost  over  £9,000 
sterling,  and  is  quite  superior  to  any  other  church  of 
any  denomination  in  the  city. 

The  subscription  for  it  was  commenced  on  the  an- 
niversary day,  celebrating  the  arrival  of  the  "  Albany 
Settlers"  in  Algoa  Bay,  on  the  10th  of  April,  1820  ; 
and  in  memory  of  that  event,  it  was  called  "  Com- 
memoration Chapel/' 

Rev.  Mr.  Shaw  remarks  further,  that  owing  to  the 
embarrassments  occasioned  by  the  Kaffir  War  of 
1846,  the  debt  on  "  Commemoration  Chapel,"'  at  the 
time  of  its  dedication,  was  upwards  of  £5,000,  and 
adds,  "  I  had  already  appealed  to  the  Legislative 
Council  of  the  colony  for  assistance,  seeing  that  we 
had  never  received  a  shilling  from  the  Colonial  Trea- 
sury in  aid  of  our  religious  institutions  in  Graham's 
Town,  while  nearly  the  entire  cost  of  St.  George's 
Church  had  been  defrayed  from  that  source,  and  the 
Episcopalians  and  Roman  Catholics  of  the  town  were 
receiving  about  £1,000  per  annum  towards  the  sup- 
port of  their  respective  clergy."  After  some  disap- 
pointments and  long  delay,  they  succeeded  in  ob- 
taining the  grant  of  £1,000  in  aid  of  the  buildiig 


CHURCH   OUT   OF    DEBT.  G5 

fund.  Mr.  Shaw  says  further  by  anticipation,  "  I 
trust  that  the  few  settlers,  who  may  survive  the  fif- 
tieth year,  or  jubilee  of  their  arrival  in  the  country, 
will  take  care  that,  if  any  debt  unhappily  still  re- 
mains on  Commemoration  Chapel,  it  shall,  on  that 
occasion,  be  entirely  extinguished  by  their  grateful 
and  liberal  thank-offerings/'  Well,  when  I  reached 
Graham's  Town,  there  was  still  a  debt  of  £3,000  on  it. 
But  through  a  letter,  recently  received  from  Rev. 
T.  Guard,  I  shall  be  happy  to  inform  Brother  Shaw 
that  the  friends  there,  recently  had  a  meeting  to 
take  the  subject  under  consideration,  and  paid  the 
whole  amount  that  day. 

After  a  rough  ride  in  the  post-cart,  ninety  miles 
from  Port  Elizabeth,  I  arrived  in  Graham's  Town  at 
six  p.m.  My  home  was  with  Mr.  W.  A.  Richards, 
one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  "  Journal,'1  a  large  Tri- 
weekly, having  the  largest  circulation  of  any  paper 
in  the  colony.  He  is  stepson  of  the  founder,  and  * 
senior  member  of  the  firm — the  Hon.  R.  Godlonton, 
who  is  a  "  Colonist  of  forty-six  years'  standing,  and  an 
old  "VVesleyan  as  well,  and  though  for  many  years  a 
member  of  the  "Legislative  Council,"  or  Upper 
House  of  the  Colonial  Parliament,  yet  he  is  really  a 
spiritually-minded  useful  member,  and  active  worker 
in  the  Church.  I  had  a  delightful  home  in  the  spa- 
cious house,  and  more  spacious  hearts  of  my  dear 
friends,  Brother  and  Sister  Richards.  During  my 
first  evening,  Bi  other  Atwell  and  several  other  lead- 
ing laymen  called  in  to  bid  me  welcome,  and  also 

F 


66  graiiam's  town. 

Revs.  Davis,  Green,  and  Holford.  Brother  Guard, 
acting  superintendent  during  the  absence  of  Brother 
Inipey,  had  been  away  on  a  visitation  of  the  churches 
for  a  short  time,  and  had  not  returned.  Brother  Hol- 
ford, an  earnest  young  minister,  was  a  junior  col- 
league in  the  circuit.  He  has  been  but  five  or  six 
years  in  the  colony.  Brother  John  Scott  was  the 
single  young  preacher  in  the  circuit.  He  is  the  son 
of  my  friend,  Rev.  George  Scott,  the  old  Swedish 
missionary  of  the  British  Conference.  John  was 
brought  out  into  the  work  in  Africa,  and  I  believe 
will  become  a  useful  minister. 

Rev.  W.  J.  Davis  was  sent  out  by  the  British  Con- 
ference, in  1831.  He  is  a  brave  man ;  has  been  most 
of  his  time  in  the  purely  mission  work  among  the 
Kaffirs ;  has  encountered  wars,  and  a  very  great 
variety  of  perils  among  them.  He  now  has  charge 
of  a  large  native  station  in  Graham's  Town.  He  is, 
I  believe,  a  thorough  Kaffir  scholar,  and  is  the  author 
of  a  grammar  of  the  Kaffir  language.  I  afterwards 
proved  him  a  valuable  helper  in  our  prayer-meetings 
in  leading  souls  to  God. 

He  has  a  large,  interesting  family,  and,  I  believe, 
all  converted  to  God.  Two  of  his  daughters,  who 
know  the  Kaffir  language  as  well  as  the  English,  the 
wives  of  Rev.  Brothers  Hargraves  and  Sawtell,  are 
in  the  missionary  work,  and  his  son  William  has 
recently  commenced  to  preach  in  Kaffir. 

Rev.  George  H.  Green,  superintendent  of  Bathurst 


FIRST  SERViOE.  67 

circuit,  had  come  to  Graham's  Town  on  duty,  and 
was  detained  by  the  sudden  death  of  one  of  his  horses, 
and  was  unable  to  leave  till  after  the  Sabbath.  Many 
hundreds  of  horses  had  recently  died  in  the  province, 
from  the  "horse  sickness,"  with  which  the  country 
is  sometimes  visited.  A  hotel-keeper  on  the  road, 
from  Port  Elizabeth,  who  keeps  a  relay  of  coach- 
horses,  told  me  that  day,  that  within  a  month  he  had 
lost  eighty  horses  by  this  disease. 

Brother  Green  was  sent  out  in  1837,  and  has, 
during  the  most  of  the  time  since,  been  devoted  to 
the  English  and  Dutch  work.  He  is  an  open, 
laughing  brother,  but  thoroughly  devoted  to  God, 
and  His  work,  and  has  the  reputation  of  being  a 
superior  preacher.  I  was  highly  entertained  with  the 
missionary  narratives  of  these  brethren  till  the  hour  for 
retiring.    I  will  note  some  of  them  at  a  suitable  time. 

On  Sabbath,  May  13th,  we  had  "  Commemoration 
Chapel "  crowded  three  times  with  a  superior-looking 
class  of  people,  with  a  sprinkling  of  red-coats  (English 
soldiers)  among  them.  In  the  morning  Brother 
Green  read  the  service,  and  I  preached  from  "  the 
last  words  of  Jesus/'  "  But  ye  shall  receive  power, 
after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you :  and  ye 
shall  be  witnesses  unto  me,  both  in  Jerusalem,  and  in 
all  Judaia,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost 
part  of  the  earth."  In  commencing  a  series  of  special 
services,  I  always  preach  first  to  believers  on  a  subject 
embracing  the  personality,  immediate  presence   and 


68  Graham's  town. 

special  mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  adjust- 
ment of  human  agents  to  His  gracious  arrangements, 
essential  to  success. 

At  three  p.m.  I  preached  to  the  children,  with  as 
many  adults  as  could  crowd  into  the  church.  At 
night  I  preached  specially  to  sinners.  At  the  open- 
ing of  the  prayer-meeting  which  followed,  I  invited 
seekers  of  pardon  to  present  themselves  at  the  altar 
of  prayer,  but  not  one  came.  I  knew  that  the 
awakening  Spirit  had  thrust  His  "  piercing  "  sword 
into  the  hearts  of  many  sinners,  but  did  not  press 
them  to  come  forward.  Many  believers  were  greatly 
disappointed  in  not  seeing  some  go  forward,  but 
thought  it  was  the  pleasure  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  thus 
to  set  the  church  more  fully  back  to  their  home- 
work of  self-examination,  and  more  thorough  pre- 
paration  for  the  coming  struggle  for  the  rescue  of 

perishing  souls. 

On  Monday  many  leading  brethren  called  to  bid 

me  welcome  ;  but  all  expressed  their  disappointment 

at  the  results  of  the  labours  of  the  previous  day,  and 

their  great  sorrow  that  the  Church  was  in  such  a  low 

spiritual  state.     They  spoke  gratefully  of  a  work  of 

God  in  1822,  at  Salem,  twenty  miles  distant ;  a  second 

revival  in  1830,  in  Graham's  Town,  which  extended 

to  some  of  the  country  circuits.     Their  third,  and 

"great  revival,"  was  in  1837,  when  about  300  souls 

were  saved.     A  fourth  revival,  less  extensive,  but 

really  a  very  goo:l  work,  especially  among  the  young 

people,  in  1867 ;  T»ut  now  they  felt  a  painful  sense  of 


VENTILATION.  69 

coldness  and  ineffectiveness.  I  assured  them  that  as 
soon  as  they  were  ready  for  an  advance  movement, 
the  Holy  Spirit  would  certainly  lead  them  on  to 
victory.  I  reminded  them  of  the  carnal  ohstructions 
to  the  work  of  God  in  the  Church,  which  must  be 
sought  out  and.  removed  by  individual  repentance 
and  reformation,  through  faith  ;  and  that  there  was 
at  least  one  serious  physical  difficulty  in  the  way. 
"  Your  beautiful  church  is  not  sufficiently  ventilated 
for  a  large  audience,  by  one  half.  The  immense 
amount  of  carbonic  acid  gas  thrown  out  from  the 
lungs  of  fourteen  hundred  persons,  and  the  porous 
discharge  of  foetid  matter  from  their  bodies,  must  on 
each  occasion  poison  the  atmosphere  in  the  church 
in  a  very  short  time.  This  poison  being  inhaled, 
corrupts  the  blood,  blunts  the  nervous  sensibilities  of 
the  people,  and  hence  precludes  vigorous  mental 
action,  produces  headache,  and  drowsiness,  and  sadly 
injures  their  health  ;  and  when  it  comes  to  that,  the 
best  thing  is  to  quit,  and  go  home  as  quickly  as 
possible.  We  can't  afford  to  spend  our  precious 
evenings  there  in  poisoning  each  other,  for  that  is 
the  very  kind  of  stuff  that  killed  the  British  soldiers 
in  the  'blackhole  of  Calcutta.'  It  is  out  of  the  ques* 
tion  to  have  a  great  work  of  salvation  without  a  good 
supply  of  oxygen/' 

They  could  not  readily  realize  that  their  really 
splendid  church  could  be  so  defective  in  anything; 
but  expressed  a  willingness  to  make  such  changes  as 
might  be  found  to  be  necessary. 


70  Graham's  town. 

They  were  decidedly  of  opinion  that  we  would  get 
on  better  to  have  the  prayer-meetings,  after  preach- 
ing, in  the  basement  lecture-room,  as  the  brethren 
felt  more  at  home,  and  could  work  more  freely  there. 

I  replied,  "  Before  this  week  is  out,  we  will  require 
all  the  room  the  body  of  the  church  can  afford  to 
accommodate  the  people  who  will  remain  for  prayer- 
meeting  ;  and  as  your  people  will  have  to  get  used  to 
working  above,  they  may  just  as  well  break  in  first  as 
last,  and  then  we  will  lose  no  time  in  needless  changes." 

We  had  to  go  thoroughly  into  the  subject  of 
ventilating  the  chapel.  I  begged  them  to  employ  a 
competent  mechanic  to  put  ventilating  apertures  in 
the  windows,  above  and  below.  They  had  two  such 
on  each  side  of  the  chapel  in  the  windows  below,  but 
none  above.  But  to  make  any  permanent  change,  a 
meeting  of  the  trustees  must  be  called,  and  perhaps 
much  time  consumed  in  the  preliminaries  before  the 
work  could  be  effected.  So  to  close  the  debate,  and 
secure  the  end  by  a  short  method,  Brother  Atwill, 
one  of  the  trustees,  who  is  allowed  to  do  daring 
things,  without  being  called  to  account,  because  all 
who  know  him  feel  sure,  that  under  all  circumstances, 
he  will  do  what  he  conscientiously  believes  to  be  the 
right  thing,  went  into  the  gallery,  hammer  in  hand, 
and  knocked  a  pane  of  glass  out  of  each  window  on 
both  sides,  which  afforded  a  good  supply  of  fresh  air, 
for  our  crowded  audiences,  and  thus  removed  a  phy- 
sical barrier  to  our  success,  and  gave  us  a  wide  awake 
people  to  preach  to. 


PRAYER    MEETINGS.  71 

On  Monday  night  we  had  the  church  well  filled 
above  and  below.  Nearly  enough  remained  for  the 
prayer-meeting  to  fill  the  main  audience- room  of  the 
church.  Over  thirty  seekers  came  promptly  forward 
to  the  altar  of  prayer,  and  about  a  dozen  of  them 
were  "justified  by  faith,"  and  obtained  "peace  with 
God,  thi-ough  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

On  Tuesday  morning  Brother  Green,  who  had 
meantime  provided  himself  with  another  horse,  was 
about  to  return  home,  taking  with  him  his  daughter 
"  Libbie,"  who  was  not  converted  to  God.  The* 
young  lady  was  in  sad  bereavement,  and  was  disposed 
to  complain  of  God's  dealings  with  her.  She  was 
within  a  few  days  of  being  married,  a  year  before,  to 
the  son  of  Rev.  John  Edwards,  one  of  our  old  South 
African  Missionaries,  but  the  young  man,  in  crossing 
Fish  River,  on  his  way  to  the  home  of  his  bride,  was 
drowned.  I  said  to  Brother  Green,  "Don't  take 
your  daughter  away  from  our  meetings.  Just  leave 
her  here  to  be  converted,  and  go  ye  and  bring 
Sister  Green  and  your  daughter  Hannah,  and  let 
them  all  share  the  blessings  of  God  at  our  meetings. 
There  are  crowns  to  be  distributed,  and  the  gift  of 
eternal  life  to  be  granted  to  all  who  will  come  to 
God,  and  I  don't  see  why  your  family  may  not  as 
well  have  their  full  share  of  blessing." 

Brother  Richards  seconded  my  motion  by  a  cordial 
invitation  for  Brother  and  Sister  Green  to  sojourn 
with  me  in  his  house.  Brother  Green  consented  at 
once.     The  result  was,  we  got  two  valuable  helpers 


72  graiiam's  town. 

m  the  persons  of  Brother  and  Sister  Green  ;  and 
during  the  series  of  meetings,  their  daughters  were 
both  converted  to  God  ;  and,  subsequently,  their  son 
Arthur,  at  our  Somerset  meetings,  and  their  son  John, 
at  our  Cradock  series,  were  saved.  They  are  very 
interesting  girls,  and  their  brothers  give  good  pro- 
mise of  becoming  useful  men. 

On  Tuesday,  the  15th  of  May,  Rev.  Thomas  Guard 
returned.  As  he  had  before  given  me  a  cordial  invi- 
tation, so  now  he  gave  me  an  Irish  "  Caed  mela  faltha" 
— "  100,000  welcomes"— to  Graham's  Town.  He  is 
the  Apollos  of  Southern  Africa.  I  believe  it  is  con- 
ceded by  all  parties  who  have  heard  him  preach  and 
lecture,  that  no  man  in  Africa  can  approach  to  his 
standard  of  logical  fascinating  sublime  eloquence.  It 
was  said,  however,  that  he  succeeded  better  in  stirring 
the  romantic  and  poetic  elements  of  man's  nature,  and 
in  feasting  the  intellect,  than  in  arousing  the  con- 
science, and  leading  sinners  to  repentance.  But  he 
threw  all  his  energies  into  the  work  at  our  meetings, 
publicly,  and  in  social  circles,  and  was  greatly  owned 
of  God  as  an  agent  in  the  work  that  was  done,  and 
himself  received,  as  he  testified  to  the  praise  of  God, 
an  extraordinary  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  under 
which  he  "  had  grown  more  than  during  a  period  of 
fifteen  years  before."  His  talents  now,  more  than 
ever,  are  employed  by  the  Spirit  in  the  direct  work  of 
winning  souls  for  Christ. 

He  has  been  but  a  few  years  in  Africa,  but  his 
name   is  a  tower  of    strength    in    both    colonies. 


CHRISTIAN   STATESMEN.  73 

He  was  induced  to  leave  the  Irish  Conference,  and 
take  an  appointment  to  Africa,  because  of  the  failing 
health  of  his  highly- talented  wife.  Her  health  is 
greatly  improved  ;  but  it  would  be  a  calamity  to 
the  work  in  Southern  Africa  if  they  should  return 
to  their  "  Emerald  Isle.-" 

"We  have  many  wealthy  influential  "Wesleyans  in 
Graham's  Town,  who,  I  believe,  shared  largely  in  the 
rich  blessings  of  grace  poured  out  from  their  Infi- 
nite Source  during  our  series.  Seven  members  of 
Parliament  from  Graham's  Town  are  Wesleyans. 
Hon.  George  Wood,  senior  ;  Hon.  Robert  Godlonton, 
Hon.  Samuel  Cawood,  Hon.  J.  C.  Hoole,  belong  to 
the  Upper  House,  or  "  Legislative  Council,"  four  out 
of  the  seven  members  to  which  the  Eastern  Province 
is  entitled.  Hon.  John  Wood,  George  Wood,  junior, 
sons  of  George,  senior,  Jonathan  and  Reuben  Ayliff, 
and  J.  C.  Clough,  are  members  of  the  Legislative 
Assembly;  William  Ayliff  also,  from  Port  Beaufort. 
These  are  all  class-going  Wesleyans,  except  Messrs. 
Hoole  and  Clough,  who  are,  in  other  respects,  identi- 
fied with  us. 

These  are,  for  the  most  part  I  learn,  wealthy 
men,  and  very  influential  for  good.  The  Ayliffs  are 
sons  of  Eev.  John,  recently  deceased,  one  of  our 
most  laborious  and  successful  pioneer  missionaries, 
who  led  the  Fingoes  out  of  their  bondage,  as  before 
stated.  His  widow,  daughter,  and  two  of  his  sons 
live  in  Graham's  Town.  The  widow  still  has  the 
genuine  missionary  spirit,  and  is  driven  round  daily 


74  graham's  town. 

in  hor  carriage  to  all  parts  of  the  town,  visiting  the 
sick,  and  doing  good  to  the  souls  and  bodies  of  the 
needy.  At  her  request  I  visited  some  of  her  patients  ; 
among  them  was  "old  Brother  Sparks,"  who  had 
been  bound,  lo !  these  thirty-six  years,  with  rheu- 
matism. Many  of  his  joints  have  been  drawn  quite 
out  of  place ;  but  he  said,  "  God  has  been  very  kind 
to  me.  He  has,  all  through  my  long  period  of  suf- 
fering, so  filled  my  heart  with  His  precious  love, 
that  I  never  felt  a  spirit  of  impatience/'  He  seemed 
greatly  to  enjoy  my  singing.  I  thought  his  poor 
wife,  who  has  daily  attended  him  during  his  long  ill- 
ness, must  have  developed  patience  almost  equal  to 
that  of  Job.  I  have  made  the  acquaintance  of  all 
four  of  Father  AylifFs  sons.  They  are  all  over 
six  feet  in  height,  born  in  the  mission-field  among 
the  Kaffirs,  fluent  in  the  Kaffir  language,  pious, 
"  well-to-do"  men,  and  leading  men  in  the  Govern- 
ment. 

Volumes  might  be  filled  with  the  details  of  what 
was  said  and  done  in  connection  with  our  series  of 
meetings  in  Graham's  Town;  but  I  will  simply  give 
an  outline  and  a  few  specimen  illustrative  facts  of  a 
work  which,  in  extent,  numerically,  was  limited  com- 
pared with  the  numbers  saved  during  my  series  of 
the  same  length  in  any  of  the  Australian  cities.  But 
the  work  in  Graham's  Town  is  of  vast  importance, 
not  only  in  its  local  effect,  but  in  its  far-reaching  in- 
fluence on  the  extensive  mission-field  among  the  sur- 
rounding African  tribes. 


cm  iter  vir. 

gkaham's  town  (continue!') 

Burtng  ray  first  week  in  Graham's  Town  I  preached 
eight  sermons,  each  followed  by  a  prayer-meeting, 
of  about  two  hours  in  time.  The  second  week  the 
same  as  the  first,  with  the  addition  of  four  mid-day 
prayer-meetings. 

During  the  third  week  preached  four  sermons  ; 
delivered  three  lectures  on  "  Reminiscences  of  Pales- 
tine," and  "  St.  Paul  and  his  Times."  We  had  fine 
mid-day  prayer-meetings  that  week,  and  occupied 
one  evening  by  a  fellowship  meeting,  at  which  I  gave 
a  lecture  on  Christian  Fellowship,  and  over  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  persons,  nearly  all  adults,  came 
forward  and  gave  their  names  as  candidates  for 
membership  in  the  Wesleyan  Church,  and  eighty- 
four  persons  stood  up  in  their  places  promptly,  one 
after  another,  and  clearly  gave  their  testimony  to  the 
tsavin  g  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  their  hearts. 

The  number  of  persons  professing  to  have  found 
pardon  arid  peace  with  God,  meantime,  whose  names 
and  address  had,  on  a  personal  examination,  been 
taken  down  by  Brother  Holford,  one  of  the  ministers 


76  graiiam's  town. 

of  the  circuit,  amounted  to  over  a  hundred  and 
seventy,  which  number  swelled  to  over  two  hundred 
eoon  after  I  left.  The  daily  prayer-meetings  have 
been  kept  up  ever  since,  and  will,  I  trust,  to  the  end 
of  time. 

I  found  the  people  of  Graham's  Town  a  very  at- 
tentive, social,  affectionate  people.  I  formed  among 
them  many  personal  acquaintances,  and  strong  bonds 
of  Christian  friendship,  which  will  abide  for  ever. 

On  Thursday,  the  24th  of  May,  out  on  the  hills 
overlooking  Graham's  Town,  in  the  Mimosa  Scrub, 
we  had  a  Wesleyan  celebration  of  the  "  Queen's 
birthday."  It  was  a  delightful  social  entertainment, 
where  I  had  an  opportunity  of  speaking  to  many 
friends,  and  among  them  many  of  the  young  con- 
verts. Mr.  H.,  a  tall  man,  with  heavy  beard,  came 
to  me  as  soon  as  I  alighted  from  Brother  Richards' 
carriage  in  the  grove,  and  said,  "  Mr.  Taylor,  I 
have  come  to  ask  your  pardon  for  what  I  have  been 
thinking  about  you.  I  felt  so  badly  under  your 
preaching,  that  I  went  forward  to  the  altar  last 
Thursday  night,  but  I  felt  worse  and  Avorse.  Just 
beside  me  was  a  woman  who  was  in  such  an  agony 
of  distress  that  I  soon  began  to  neglect  my  own 
case  in  my  sympathy  for  her.  I  wondered  that  you 
did  not  come  at  once,  and  do  something  for  her ; 
and  while  I  was  looking  and  hoping  that  you  would 
come,  I  saw  you  walk  past  her.  Now  I  am  telling 
you  this,  that  I  may  ask  your  pardon  for  what  I  had 
been  thinking  about  you.  When  I  saw  that  woman's 


A   REMARKABLE    CASE.  77 

flowing  tears,  and  saw  you  pass  without  seeming  to 
notice  her,  I  got  angry,  and  wanted  to  pull  your 
beard.  Knowing  that  such  a  procedure  would  not 
be  suitable  to  the  occasion,  I  got  up  and  went  away. 
But  on  last  Sabbath,  when  you  preached  in  Market 
Square,  I  stood  so  near  to  you,  that  I  could  see  into 
your  eyes,  and  saw  there  such  a  flood  of  sympathy 
for  sinners,  that  I  was  fully  convinced  that  I  had 
done  you  great  injustice  in  my  mind,  and  felt  ashamed 
that  I  had  allowed  such  feelings  so  to  influence  my 
conduct.  Then  I  began  again  in  earnest  to  seek  the 
Lord.  Last  night,  during  the  prayer- meeting,  I  sur- 
rendered my  soul  to  God,  and  accepted  Jesus  Christ 
as  my  Saviour,  and  immediately  I  was  filled  with 
'  unspeakable  joy.'  Now  I  see  that  you  were  right 
all  the  time,  and  that  you  understood  the  woman's 
case,  and  that  I  did  not ;  that  she  had  to  feel  her 
own  utter  helplessness  and  surrender  herself  to  God." 
(The  fact  is,  as  I  then  told  him,  I  had  explained  the 
way  of  salvation  to  the  woman  before  she  got  his 
attention.)  "  This  is  the  man,"  continued  he,  point- 
ing to  a  small  man  by  his  side,  "  who  spoke  to  me 
last  night,  when  I  was  just  poising  in  an  even  bal- 
ance. I  required  but  the  weight  of  a  feather,  and 
he  gave  the  right  impulse  at  the  right  moment,  and 
I  yielded,  believed,  and  was  saved." 

Several  very  respectable  persons,  who  had  been 
a  long  time  acceptable  members  of  the  Church,  found 
out  that  they  were  on  the  old  Jewish  track  of  "  going 
about  to  establish  their  own  righteousness,"  but  had 


78  Graham's  town. 

never  submitted  themselves  to  the  righteousness  of 
God,"  and  were  hence  really  destitute  of  salvation. 
Brother  K.  came  to  see  me,  and  told  how  he  had 
been  trying  for  years  to  serve  God,  but  could  not 
tell  whether  or  not  he  had  even  the  witness  of  par- 
don. I  tried  to  help  him  ascertain  his  facts,  and  de- 
fine his  spiritual  whereabouts,  but  in  vain.  Then  I 
told  him  to  drop  the  discussion,  and  come  directly 
to  God  in  a  present  unreserved  surrender,  and  claim 
in  Christ  what  was  the  privilege  of  every  poor  sinner 
in  the  world,  who  had  any  desire  to  come  to  God,  a 
present  salvation  from  sin.  I  then  fully  explained 
to  him  the  simple  way  of  salvation  by  faith,  the 
only  way  to  be  saved.  He  at  once  ceased  to  debate 
the  question  of  doubt,  and  very  soon  obtained  sal- 
vation by  faith,  and  the  clear  witness  of  the  spirit 
that  he  was  then  indeed  a  child  of  God.  He  after- 
wards became  a  successful  worker  in  leading  souls  to 
Jesus. 

On  the  second  Sabbath  night  of  our  series,  I  saw 
an  interesting-looking  man  at  the  altar  of  prayer,  in 
an  agony  of  soul  on  account  of  sin.  Several  good 
brethren  stood  near  him,  and  said  to  me,  as  I  was 
about  to  speak  to  the  penitent,  "  This  is  one  of  our 
best  members/'  pointing  to  the  man  at  the  altar. 
"  He  is  not  simply  a  nominal  member,  but  an  active 
worker,  reproving  sin,  and  trying  to  do  good  daily, 
and  also  the  superintendent  of  one  of  our  Sabbath 
schools.  He  is  subject  to  seasons  of  great  darkness, 
and  is  now  under  a  cloud  ;  but  it  is  all  the  result  of 


THE    SEHGEANT   SEEKING.  79 

severe  temptations."  At  the  close  of  the  following 
week  the  said  seeker  came  to  see  me,  and  related  his 
experience,  in  substance,  as  follows  : — He  was  first 
awakened  when  twelve  years  old ;  but  having  no 
one  to  instruct  him,  gradually  lost  his  convictions 
of  sin.  Then,  twenty  years  ago,  he  was  greatly 
awakened,  and  resolved  to  be  a  servant  of  God,  and 
joined  the  Wesleyan  Church.  "  For  several  years  I 
strove  hard  to  live  right,  and  attended  all  the  means 
of  grace  within  my  reach.  Then  I  became  ac- 
quainted with  a  very  bad  man,  who  was  the  means 
of  leading  me  astray,  and  for  a  short  time  I  was  out 
of  the  Church,  but  I  was  very  wretched,  and  made  a 
sincere  and  humble  confession,  and  was  again  ad- 
mitted to  the  Wesleyan  Church.  I  then  doubled  my 
diligence  in  trying  to  work  out  my  salvation  with 
fear  and  trembling.  I  often  fasted  from  Wednesday 
till  Friday. 

"  Once  during  my  fast  I  received  an  order  to 
perform  a  hazardous  duty,  as  a  sergeant  in  the 
army.  Some  of  my  fellow- soldiers  begged  me  to 
break  my  fast,  or  I  could  not  accomplish  my  work  ; 
but  I  kept  to  my  fast,  and  though  in  a  very 
weak  state,  fulfilled  my  duty.  I  have  spent  many 
days  in  prayer,  in  the  kloofs  and  caves  of  the 
mountains,  and  often  wished  that  by  laying  down 
my  life,  I  could  get  relief  for  my  soul.  I  once  re- 
solved to  die  on  my  knees,  or  get  relief.  I  got  some 
relief,  but  did  not  get  salvation.  I  have  for  some 
time  been  teaching   school,  and  have  been  trying 


^  graham's  town. 

to  do  good  in  the  Sunday-school,  but  got  no  '  rest 
for  my  soul/  During  the  first  week  of  your  preach- 
ing, I  was  thoroughly  waked  up,  but  I  felt  very 
bitter  against  you.  By  last  Sabbath  I  felt  so  badly, 
so  guilty  before  God,  that  I  could  not  show  my  face ; 
but  spent  the  day  alone  in  the  hills,  trying  to  pray. 
But  on  Sabbath  night,  1  went  again  to  hear  you 
preach,  and  when  you  appealed  to  murmurers  against 
God,  and  asked  them  if  they  would  be  willing  to 
have  their  miserable  existence  terminated  by  annihi- 
lation ?  I  responded  in  my  heart,  *  Yes,  I  would 
hail  such  an  opportunity  with  gladness.'  I  then 
went  forward  to  the  altar  of  prayer,  and  cried  for 
help,  but  found  it  not. 

"  But  the  next  night,  in  your  sermon  on  believing, 
you  unraveled  every  knot  of  unbelief,  by  which  I 
have  been  held  down  all  these  years.  Your  account 
of  that  man  in  Mudgee,  New  South  Wales,  who  said, 
'  I  can't  believe,  O,  I  can't  believe,'  suited  my  case 
exactly,  and  I  said,  '  I'll  never  use  that  fatal  expres- 
sion again.'  I  do  submit  myself  to  God,  living  or 
dying,  to  do  with  me  just  as  He  likes.  I  do  believe 
His  record  concerning  His  Son.  I  do  have  confidence 
in  Jesus,  as  an  all-sufficient  Saviour  of  the  very  chief 
of  sinners.  I  do  accept  Him  as  my  Saviour  now.'  I 
began  then  at  once  to  get  hold  on  Christ  by  faith ; 
and  while  they  were  singing,  '0,  the  bleeding  Lamb! 
He  was  found  worthy,'  I  clearly  realised,  what  I  had 
always  admitted  in  theory,  that  though  I  should 
'  give  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  my  body  to 


THE   SERGEANT   SAVED.  81 

be  burned,  it  would  profit  me  nothing;'  but  the 
Lamb  of  God  slain  for  sinners,  was  indeed  a  suffi- 
cient sacrifice  for  my  sins,  and  I  do  accept  Him  now 
as  my  Saviour/  I  returned  home,  quietly  resting 
on  Christ  as  my  Saviour.  About  one  o'clock  that 
night,  while  steadily  clinging  to  Jesus,  the  Holy 
Spirit  so  manifested  the  pardoning  love  of  God  to 
my  heart,  that  I  could  not  restrain  my  joyous  emo- 
tions, but  went  and  waked  up.Mr.  G.,  and  told  him 
that  I  was  saved,  and  we  praised  God  together.  If 
a  legion  of  angels  had  told  me  that  all  my  sins  were 
forgiven,  I  could  not  have  had  a  clearer  evidence 
than  I  had  within  my  heart,  through  God's  witness- 
ing Spirit.  Before  that  I  did  not  love  you;  but 
ever  since,. I  have  loved  you  so,  that  I  could  cheer- 
fully lay  down  my  life  for  you.  I  ask  your  pardon 
for  the  hard  feelings  I  entertained  against  you,  during 
your  first  week's  services.  I  see  now  that  I  was 
under  the  influence  of  the  carnal  mind  and  Satan. 
The  devil  has  often  come  since  with  his  old  sugges- 
tions of  unbelief;  but,  thank  God,  the  snare  is  broken, 
and  I  am  a  free  man  in  Jesus."  I  had  a  season  of 
prayer  with  Him  alone,  and  God  manifested  himself 
in  great  mercy  to  our  hearts. 

In  contrast  with  this,  another  class  of  converts, 
after  the  style  of  the  Philippian  jailor,  may  be  illus- 
trated by  the  experience  of  Mr.  J.  W.,  of  Graham's 
Town,  who  was  saved  through  the  preaching 
of  Rev.  Brother  Guard,  a  few  weeks  after  I  left. 
Brother  W.  brought  his  brother,  burdened  with  sin, 

G 


82  gbaham's  town. 

107  miles,  to  my  meeting  in  Cradock,  who  returned 
full  of  joy  unspeakable.  During  our  Cradock  series, 
at  a  fellowship-meeting,  Brother  W.  said,  "Under 
the  preaching  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Guard,  I  was  awak- 
ened by  the  Spirit  of  God,  to  a  sense  of  my  sad  con- 
dition as  a  sinner.  I  had  not  bowed  my  knee  in 
prayer  for  fifteen  years,  but  utterly  without  hope  of 
improving  my  condition,  by  anything  I  could  ever 
do,  I  knelt  before  God,  and  in  the  simplicity  of  a 
little  child,  told  Him  all  about  my  sad  state,  and  re- 
minded Him  of  his  abundant  provision  of  mercy  in 
Christ  for  just  such  poor  sinners  as  I  was,  and  that 
I  then  and  there  thankfully  accepted  Jesus  on  His 
own  terms,  as  my  Saviour,  and  before  I  arose  from 
my  knees  I  obtained  the  forgiveness  of  all  my  sins, 
through  Jesus  Christ,  and  now  for  twenty- three  days 
'I  have  walked  in  the  light.  I  had  every  facility  a 
man  could  ask  for  enjoying  this  world,  and  sought 
pleasure  at  every  source  that  leisure  and  money  could 
command  ;  but  I  have  enjoyed  more  real  happiness 
during  the  last  twenty-three  days,  than  in  all  the 
thirty-nine  years  of  my  life  before." 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  such  a  work  can  be 
wrought  in  any  place,  without  strongly  exciting  the 
antagonistic  forces  of  carnal  nature  and  Satanic 
power  in  the  hearts  of  many  worldly  men  and 
women,  and  not  unfrequently  we  find  some  mis- 
guided good  people  who  will  forbid  any  person  "  t« 
cast  out  devils  "  who  will  not  follow  them. 

Many  false  things,  and  many  hard  things  were 


MR.    GREEN,    THE    BARBER.  83 

said  in  Graham's  Town  during  the  progress  of  our 
work,  by  the  wicked ;  and  much  opposition  was 
manifested  in  certain  quarters,  where  we  had  a 
right  to  expect  better  things  ;  but  as  I  seldom  ever 
read,  or  listen  to  such  things,  I  will  not  burden  my 
pages  with  them.  It  is  said  that  Sir  P.  D.,  com- 
mandant of  the  British  forces  there,  inquired  of 
Mr.  Green,  the  barber,  "Who  is  this  man  Taylor, 
who  is  causing  such  a  stir  in  the  town  ?  " 

The  barber  replied,  "  Have  you  not  read,  Sir  P., 
of  certain  men  of  whom  it  was  said,  '  These  men  who 
have  turned  the  world  upside  down  have  come  hither 
also?'" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Sir  P.,  "  I  have  read  something  of 
that  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles." 

"Well  sir,"  replied  the  barber,  "Mr.  Taylor,  I 
believe,  is  a  relation  of  those  men." 

My  three  lectures,  in  Commemoration  Chapel,  were 
well  attended,  and  for  defining  and  defending  the 
Gospel  methods  of  evangelization,  I  think  they  were 
better  adapted  to  general  instruction  and  edification 
than  the  same  number  of  sermons. 

An  extract  from  a  letter,  written  by  "  mine  host/: 
Mr.  A.  Richards,  a  month  after  my  departure,  may 
serve  to  illustrate  the  continued  progress  of  the  work 
of  God  in  Graham's  Town. 

"  Everything  is  going  on  very  satisfactorily  here. 

The  work  of  God  is  widening,  extending,  deepening. 

Many  are  seeking  the  higher  spiritual  blessing  of 

holiness  of  heart.     Our  house  has  reason  to  be  thank- 

/' 


84  graham's  town. 

fill,  and  to  praise  God.  We  have  a  prayer-meeting 
in  our  dining-room  every  Monday  evening.  Last 
night  seventy  were  present.  At  the  midday  prayer- 
meeting  there  were  100  to-day,  and  a  gracious  in- 
fluence was  at  work."  Then,  after  speaking  of  a 
number  by  name,  who  had  recently  been  saved,  lie 
adds,  "  The  number  of  seekers  are  daily  increasing. 
I  should  think  the  devil  must  feel  rather  bad  at 
seeing  so  many  of  his  soldiers  returning  to  God. 
He  can't  say  they  are  rebels,  for  they  all  belong  to 
God."  "  The  work  is  going  on  here  too  among  the 
natives.  About  100  are  converted ;  twenty  in  each 
of  the  last  three  nights." 

That  was  the  beginning  of  a  work  among  the 
natives  there,  after  I  left;  laid  not  work  among 
them,  except  to  preach  one  sermon  through  an  in- 
terpreter, and  found  it  a  very  slow  business.  How- 
ever, I  believe  I  did  better  than  a  good  brother  I 
heard  of  there,  who  undertook  to  give  an  address  to 
an  audience  of  Kaffirs.  He  was  a  brother  accustomed 
to  use  long,  hard  words,  which  would  sound  well  to 
English  ears ;  but  rather  too  abstract  and  lengthy 
for  a  Kaffir  interpreter. 

When  he  delivered  his  first  sentence,  the  interpre- 
ter said,  in  effect,  "  Friends,  I  don't  understand  what 
he  says." 

Then  came  another  sentence,— 

"  Friends,  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  very  good, 
but  I  don't  understand  it." 

Then  came  another  deliverance,  long  and  loud. 


PARTING  WITH"  FRIENDS.  85 

"  Friends,  that  is  extraordinary,  no  doubt,  hut  it 
is  all  dark  to  me." 

By  that  time  the  eyes  of  the  whole  audience 
glistened,  and  they  began  freely  to  show  their  ivory, 
and  the  speaker  seemed  to  think  he  was  doing  it, 
for  he  could  not  understand  a  word  that  the  inter- 
preter said,  and  he  waxed  eloquent  in  the  flow  of 
his  great  words ;  and  the  interpreter  went  on  to  the 
close  replying  to  each  sentence,  closing  with, 
"  Friends,  if  you  have  understood  any  of  that,  you 
have  done  more  than  I  have.  It  is  a  grand  dis- 
course, no  doubt."  The  Kaffirs  there  are  blessed 
with  the  ministry  of  my  friend,  Rev.  W.  J.  Davis, 
who  needs  no  interpreter,  and  now  reports  several 
hundreds  of  them  saved  since  I  was  there. 

After  my  lecture,  on  Friday  night  the  1st  of  June, 
I  gave  my  last  words  of  counsel  and  exhortation  to 
my  dear  brethren  and  sisters  in  Graham's  Town.  It 
was  a  solemn  occasion,  for  though  I  never  preach 
"  farewell  sermons,"  or  encourage  any  ado  on  the 
occasion  of  my  final  departure  from  any  place,  still, 
I  am  always  reminded  that  Christian  love  and  sym- 
pathy, so  beautifully  illustrated  at  Miletus,  is  the 
same  in  all  ages,  and  among  all  people. 

God's  messenger  of  mercy  to  their  hearts  "  kneeled 
down,  and  prayed  with  them  all.  And  they  all  wept 
sore,  and  fell  on  Paul's  neck,  and  kissed  him,  sorrow- 
ing most  of  all  for  the  words  which  he  spake,  that 
they  should  see  his  face  no  more."  brother  Davis, 
and  two  of  his  daughters,  Brother  and  Sister  Guard, 


86  graham's  town. 

Brother  Holford,  and  a  few  others,  accompanied  us  to 
:he  house  of  my  host ;  and  after  a  good  supper,  and 
good  social  cheer,  we  together  sang, 

"And  let  our  bodies  part 

To  different  climes  repair, 
Inseparably  joined  in  heart 
The  friends  of  Jesus  are,"  etc. 

And  upon  our  knees  again  commended  each  other, 
and  our  young  converts,  to  the  special  care  of  our 
covenant-keeping  God,  and  said  farewell.  It  was 
then  midnight,  and  I  had  a  rough  journey  of  seventy 
miles  between  me,  and  my  work  in  King  William's 
Town  the  following  Sabbath.  After  a  little  sleep,  at 
four  a.m.,  of  Saturday,  June  2nd,  Mr.  D.  Penn  called 
with  his  cart  and-two,  and  we  commenced  our  long 
day's  journey.  Brother  Penn  had  a  pair  of  fine 
travellers,  which  took  us  thirty  miles  to  breakfast. 
Then  we  got  a  pair  of  fresh  horses,  which  he  had 
sent  on  two  days  before,  and  they  made  the  rest  of 
the  journey  just  as  the  sun  sank  from  view  in  the 
western  horizon.  Much  of  our  route  lay  through  a 
broken,  rocky  country,  all  the  way  hilly,  with  the 
usual  variety  of  deep  gorges,  little  creeks,  precipices 
and  cliffs,  rich  grassy  ranges,  and  patches  of  African 
jungle,  with  their  peculiar  intermixture  of  aloes, 
and  the  euphorbia -tree.  We  saw  one  deer  on  the 
route  ;  met  many  scores  of  wagons,  drawn  by  the 
finest  oxen  I  have  ever  seen ;  we  saw  in  the  distance 
too,  many  Kaffir  huts,  and  passed  a  very  few  houses 


MR.   D.   PENN.  87 

of  colonial  settlers.  Brother  Penn  is  an  old  colonist; 
has  been  in  the  Kaffir  wars  ;  has  had  a  great  variety 
of  experience,  and  entertained  me  all  the  way  with 
marvellous  narratives,  illustrating  colonial  life; 
while  I  enjoyed  them  very  much,  T  wts  too  weary  to 
note  them. 

Brother  Penn  had  been  a  servant  of  God  for  some 
years,  but  had  lost  ground  in  the  Christian  race; 
at  our  recent  meetings  he  had  received  a  rich  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  was  now  very  happy,  and  very 
active  in  the  work  of  winning  souls. 

Arriving  at  King  William's  Town,  he  found  lodg- 
ings with  an  old  friend,  and  I  was  kindly  entertained 
by  the  superintendent  of  the  circuit,  Rev-  J.  Fish, 
and  his  excellent  young  wife. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

king    William's    town. 

King  "William's  Town,  located  on  the  banks  of  the 
Buffalo  River,  in  the  midst  of  a  fertile  grassy  coun- 
try, was  commenced  by  the  establishment  of  a  mili- 
tary post  there  in  1835.  It  was  subsequently  aban- 
doned by  the  authority  of  the  Home  Government, 
but  re-established  in  1848,  and  became  the  capi- 
tal of  British  Kaffraria — a  large  tract  of  country 
extending  from  the  old  eastern  boundary  of  Cape 
Colony  to  the  "  Great  Kie  River."  It  was  settled 
by  an  enterprising  class  of  people,  and  became  a 
flourishing  province.  The  people  prayed  earnestly 
for  a  Colonial  Government  of  their  own  ;  that  being 
denied  them,  British  Kaffraria  was  in  April,  1866, 
annexed  to  Cape  Colony.  As  this  annexation  was 
subsequent  to  the  taking  of  the  Colonial  census  in 
1865,  the  population  of  British  Kaffraria  is  not  in- 
cluded in  that  census,  and  must  therefore,  what- 
ever it  may  be,  which  I  know  not,  proportionately 
swell  the  real  aggregate  colonial  population  above 
the  figures  I  have  given  from  the  census ;  since  the 
census  was  taken,  however,  about  forty  thousand 


REV.   JOHN    LROWNLIE.  89 

Fingoes,  included  in  the  census  of  Cape  Colony,  have 
removed  to  Fingo-land,  so  that  the  Colony  has 
upon  the  whole  no  numerical  gain  in  these  changes, 
but  a  real  gain  of  a  fine  tract  of  country,  and  a  most 
enterprising  Colonial  population. 

King  William's  Town  has  a  population  of  about 
6,000,  probably  one  half  of  whom  are  Europeans, 
principally  English.  It  is  a  strong  military  post, 
and  a  large  force  of  soldiers  are  quartered  there. 
There  are  in  the  town  two  weekly  papers  published, 
and  the  Episcopalians,  Roman  Catholics,  Presbyte- 
rians, and  Wesleyans,  have  each  one  church  edifice. 
Besides  which,  the  Wesley  an,  London  Missionary 
Society,  and  the  Berlin  Missionary  Society,  have 
each  a  chapel  for  the  Kaffirs.  Rev.  John  Brownlie, 
one  of  the  oldest  pioneer  missionaries  of  Southern 
Africa,  established  amission  there  among  the  Kaffirs, 
under  the  direction  of  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
long  before  the  town  was  laid  out. 

The  first  Wesleyan  Chapel  w-a.3  built  at  a  cost 
of  £400,  with  sittings  for  150  persons,  in  1849.  It 
is  now  used  as  a  schoolhouse ;  next  to  it  stands 
a  substantial  stone  dwelling,  which  is  the  "Mission 
House,"  and  next  to  that,  separated  by  a  few  rods 
of  ground  for  garden  and  shrubbery,  in  one  of  the 
best  sites  in  the  town,  is  the  new  Wesleyan  stone 
chapel,  built  at  a  cost  of  £2,000,  with  sittings  for 
500  persons. 

Rev.  J.  Fish,  the  Superintendent,  is  from  the 
"  .Richmond   Institution,"     an    energetic,    talented 


90  king  William's  town. 

young  minister,  and  though  hut  a  few  years  in 
Africa,  honourably  maintains  the  responsible  posi- 
tion of  Superintendent  of  this  very  important  cir- 
cuit. On  Sabbath  morning,  June  3rd,  we  had  the 
chapel  crowded  with  a  well-dressed,  very  intelligent- 
looking  congregation,  for  whatever  may  be  said  of 
the  rustic  lives  and  manners  of  pioneers,  they  have 
a  bearing  of  self-possession,  wide-awake  spirit  of  dis- 
crimination and  thoughtfulness,  which  are  very  mani- 
fest, even  in  the  quiet  of  an  assembled  audience  in 
the  house  of  God.  Having  had  much  experience  in 
pioneer  life  in  California,  I  think  I  understand  pretty 
well  how  to  reach  the  hearts  of  such  people ;  yet 
though  we  had  three  very  interesting  preaching  ser- 
vices that  day,  and  a  gracious  quickening  in  the 
Church,  there  were  no  conversions  so  far  as  we  could 
learn.  I  preached  each  evening  during  the  week  ex- 
cept Saturday  evening,  but  having  a  heavy  attack  of 
influenza  I  was  not  in  good  working  condition,  still 
the  interest  increased  in  the  Church,  and  on  Wed- 
nesday evening,  as  Mr.  Fish  states  in  his  letter  to 
the  Missionary  Society,  "  the  bar  of  reserve  and  pre- 
judice was  broken  down,  and  some  twenty-eight 
young  people  gathered  round  the  communion-rail ; 
many  of  whom,  as  the  "first-fruits"  of  a  gracious 
work,  were  enabled  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  to  realize 
the  forgiveness  of  their  sins.  "  It  was  a  moment  of 
delicious  joy,"  continues  Brother  Fish,  "  when'I  saw 
them  come  forth  one  by  one  as  penitents,  but  the 
joy  was  more  blessed  as,  one  by  one,  a  score  of  them 


FRUITS   OF   THE    REVIVAL.  91 

stood  up,  and  in  a  few  broken  sentences  told  how 
Jesus  had  pardoned  their  sins."  We  often,  near 
the  beginning  of  a  series  of  services,  invite  those 
who  have  just  "  believed  unto  righteousness,"  to 
make  "  confession  unto  "  the  "  salvation"  they  have 
received,  that  the  Church,  and  the  unbelievers  also, 
may  get  an  appreciative  idea  of  the  character  of 
the  work  from  the  testimony  of  a  variety  of  wit- 
nesses just  saved,  and  have  hence  learned  nothing 
to  say  but  the  simple,  glorious,  conscious  facts  of  the 
"demonstration  of  the  Spirit"  in  their  hearts. 
Why  not  have  them  confess  publicly  all  through  the 
services  ?  Because  we  get  so  many  seekers  requiring 
attention,  that  we  cannot  spare  time  to  listen  to  the 
interesting  words  of  the  new-born  souls,  but  arrange 
to  have  them  tell  their  experience  to  their  min- 
nister,  who  writes  down  the  fact  of  their  conversion, 
with  their  names  and  addresses,  so  as  to  put  them 
at  once  under  pastoral  care,  as  lambs  in  the  fold  of 
Christ,  Most  of  the  persons  professing  to  obtain 
pardon  that  week  were  young  persons.  Our  special 
series  of  preaching  services  closed  on  Monday  night 
of  the  week  ensuing.  Mr.  Fish  goes  on  to  state  in 
his  letter,  "  On  Sunday,  the  10th  of  June,  the  Holy 
Ghost  fell  upon  the  people,  and  twenty-six  adults 
came  forward  to  declare  themselves  seekers  of  God's 
pardoning  mercy  ;  eight  or  ten  of  whom  were  enabled 
to  rise  up  and  declare  that  God  had,  for  Christ's 
sake,  forgiven  all  their  sins.  On  the  following  even- 
ing twenty-eight  adults  came  forward.     No  sooner 


P-3  king  William's  town. 

■was  the  invitation  given,  than,  as  if  resolved  to  press 
into  the  kingdom,  they  walked  from  their  pews  to 
the  communion- rail.  It  would  be  in  vain  to  describe 
our  feelings,  as  now  and  then  the  low  sobbing  cry 
for  mercy  was  blended  with  words  of  praise,  uttered 
by  those  who  had  found  Christ.  With  the  exception 
of  eight  seekers,  all  entered  into  the  liberty  where- 
with Christ  makefh  His  people  free. 

"  This  was  the  last  sermon  of  Mr.  Taylor's  series  ; 
and  thus  God  set  His  seal  upon  His  servant's  faith. 
A  day  or  two  afterwards  he  left  us.  His  name  is  a 
'  household  word'  among  us.  We  are  thankful  to  him 
for  his  self-denying  efforts,  but  more  thankful  to  the 
Master  who  sent  him." 

Lectures  on  Tuesday  and  Wednesday  nights 
closed  my  labours  in  King  William's  Town.  The 
visible  result  is  thus  stated  in  Brother  Fish's  letter : 
— "  The  work  thus  graciously  commenced  has  gone 
on  slowly  and  gradually.  In  order  to  conserve  and 
extend  it,  we  held  daily  prayer-meetings  at  one 
o'clock,  and  continued  special  services  every  even- 
ing ;  as  the  result  of  which,  about  twenty  more  souls 
have  been  converted.  The  number  of  Europeans 
converted  in  this  revival  is,  children  included,  about 
eighty.  Some  of  these  were  members  of  society, 
who  had  not  before  enjoyed  the  evidence  of  their 
acceptance  'in  the  Beloved.'  The  rest  have  been 
received  on  trial,  either  in  this  or  other  circuits." 

On  Wednesday  the  6  th  of  June,  in  the  midst  of  our 
series  of  services  in  King  William's  Town,  a  Kaffir 


MEETING    OF    MISSION  AMES.  93 

came  running  with  the  message  that  four  mission- 
aries were  "  in  the  path,"  and  would  arrive — point- 
ing where  the  sun  would  be — a  little  after  noon. 
In  due  time  we  saw  in  the  distance  four  English- 
men on  foot  coming  into  the  town,  accompanied 
by  a  few  Kaffirs.  Their  appearance  suggested  the 
sacred  historic  scene  of  the  Master  and  His  rustic- 
looking  fishermen,  whom  he  was  teaching  to  be 
"  fishers  of  men/'  walking  into  the  city  of  Capernaum. 
These  brethren  had  walked  from  Annshaw  Mission 
station,  twenty-five  miles  distant.  We  watched  them 
with  peculiar  interest  as  they  approached.  One  of 
them  I  recognized  at  once  as  Itev.  John  Scott,  from 
Graham's  Town,  and  I  was  introduced  to  Revs. 
Lamplough,  Hillier,  and  Sawtell. 

Rev.  Robert  Lamplough  had  for  nearly  six  years 
been,  and  then  was,  the  Wesleyan  missionary  to 
Chief  Kama's  tribe  of  Kaffirs,  the  residence  of  the 
chief,  and  head  of  the  mission  circuit,  bearing  the 
name  of  Rev.  Wm.  Shaw's  missionary  wife — "  Ann- 
shaw." I  had  heard  much  of  Brother  Lamplough's 
faithful  ministrations  in  Graham's  Town,  where 
he  had  laboured  before  his  appointment  to  the  Kaffir 
work.  I  had  learned  also  that  though  he  was  not 
much  acquainted  with  the  Kaffir  language,  he  was 
preaching  successfully  through  an  interpreter,  and 
was  the  best  disciplinarian  in  South  Africa.  It  was 
gratefully  stated  by  his  Graham's  Town  friends,  that 
there  were  many  noble  ministers,  and  administrators 
among  them ;  yet,  in  the  Kaffir  work,  where  Lamp- 


94  king  William's  town. 

lough's  administrative  talents  had  specially  been 
called  into  requisition,  he  was,  confessedly,  in  wise, 
firm,  persistent  and  effective  discipline,  superior  to 
any  man  in  South  Africa.  I  was,  therefore,  very  glad 
to  meet  with  Brother  Lamplough  ;  but  could  not 
anticipate  the  glorious  results  of  our  acquaintance 
with  each  other.  He  expressed  his  deep  regret  that 
I  had  arranged  to  spend  but  one  night  on  his  station. 
Having  no  hope  of  working  successfully  through  an 
interpreter,  my  plan  of  appointments,  extending 
then  more  than  a  month  in  advance,  was  confined 
to  the  English  work,  except  this  one  night  for 
Annshaw,  which  I  had  given  more  in  deference 
to  Brother  Lamplough,  of  whom  I  had  heard  so 
much,  than  from  any  hope  of  doing  much  good  to 
his  people. 

Brother  Sawtell  was,  by  appointment,  junior 
minister  on  Annshaw  circuit,  engaged  specially  in 
establishing  a  new  mission  among  a  tribe  of  about 
15,000  Fingoes  in  Amatola  Basin,  in  the  mountains, 
about  fifteen  miles  distant  from  Annshaw.  He  is 
son-in-law  of  Rev.  W.  J.  Davis,  an  industrious 
young  minister,  who  will,  I  think,  become  very  use- 
ful. I  heard  him  preach  a  very  good  sermon, 
through  a  Kaffir  interpreter,  in  King  William's 
Town,  the  only  English  sermon  I  had  heard  for  nine 
months,  being  all  the  time  so  occupied  myself.  I 
followed  with  an  exhortation,  and  was  encouraged  to 
hope  that  I  might  do  some  good  after  all,  by  preach- 
ing through  an  interpreter. 


NATIVE    CANDIDATES   FOR   THE    MINISTRY.  05 

Brother  Hillier  was  junior  minister  on  Fort  Peddie 
circuit.     We'll  hear  from  him  again. 

Brother  Lamplough  introduced  to  me  his  two 
native  candidates  for  the  ministry,  whom  he  had 
been  training  for  several  years.  One  was  Wm. 
Shaw,  son  of  Chief  Kama,  the  other  was  Charles 
Pamla,  who  belongs  to  a  family  of  Amazulu  chiefs. 
These,  with  two  others,  are  the  first  South  African 
natives  proposed  for  the  ministry  among  the  Wesley- 
ans.  The  Free  Church  of  Scotland  have  one  edu- 
cated Kaffir  minister,  Rev.  Tio  Soga.  Wm.  Shaw 
Kama  had  given  up  the  prospect  of  becoming  the 
successor  of  his  father  in  the  chieftainship  of  his 
tribe,  that  he  might  be  a  missionary  to  the  heathen, 
and  desired  "to  be  sent  far  hence," among  those  who 
had  not  the  Gospel. 

Charles  Pamla  had  sold  his  farm,  and  good  house, 
that  he  might  devote  his  undivided  time  and  energies 
to  the  one  work  of  saving  sinners,  by  leading  them 
to  the  only  Saviour.  He  is  about  six  feet  high, 
muscular,  well-proportioned,  but  lean ;  quite  black, 
with  a  fine  display  of  ivory  ;  good  craniological  de- 
velopment, regular  features,  very  pleasant  expression, 
logical  cast  of  mind,  sonorous  powerful  voice.  He 
is  the  man  whom  God  appointed,  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  Brother  Lamplough,  to  open  for  me  an 
effectual  door  of  utterance  to  the  heathen. 

Charles  Panda's  providential  training  for  our  great 
work  was  going  on  quite  independent  of  me,  yet 
simultaneously  with  the    progress  of  my  work  in 


06 


KING    WILLIAM  S   TOWN. 


another  part  of  the  colony.  This  is  forcibly  illus- 
trated by  a  letter  written  by  Charles,  to  Rev.  Wm. 
Shaw,  dated  June  1st,  which  was  the  day  I  closed 
my  campaign  in  Graham's  Town.  The  letter  was 
published  in  the  Weslcyan  Missionary  Notices,  for 
September,  18GG.  Any  one  reading  it  will  require 
of  me  no  apology  for  inserting  the  whole  epistle. 

My  dear  Sir, — Since  I  came  to  Annshaw,  by  reading 
Wesley's  Sermons,  I  was  convinced  to  seek  after  entire 
sanctification,  and  since  last  District-Meeting  I  have  been 
praying  for  it,  and  trusting  to  obtain  it.  I  bad  a  sure  trust, 
that  through  the  blood  of  Christ  I  would  obtain  the  blessing 
promised  to  those  who  come  to  Christ  by  faith.  About  a 
month  ago,  one  morning  very  early,  I  went  to  pray  for  the 
same  thing,  entire  sanctification  ;  and  while  I  was  praying 
and  trusting  in  the  blood  of  Christ,  I  felt  a  small  voice 
speaking  through  my  soul,  saying,  "  It  is  done,  receive  the 
blessing."  The  first  thing  I  felt  was  ease  from  the  different 
kinds  of  thoughts,  ease  from  the  world,  and  from  all  the 
cares  of  the  flesh.  I  felt  the  Spirit  filling  my  soul,  and 
immediately  I  was  forced  to  say  in  my  soul,  "  For  me  to 
live  is  Christ."  And  I  gave  up  my  body,  soul,  thoughts, 
words,  time,  property,  children,  and  everything  that  belongs 
to  me,  to  the  Lord,  to  do  as  He  pleases.  One  evening, 
while  I  was  thinking  about  the  promises,  a  young  man  came 
to  me,  and  told  me  that  he  felt  his  sins.  I  told  him  to 
come  in,  and  so  he  did;  and  we  began  to  pray  to  God.  I 
took  my  book,  and  read  one  of  Wesley's  Sermons  on  Justi- 
fication by  Faith ;  also  showing  that  it  is  not  through  the 
works  of  a  man  that  God  justifies  a  sinner  ;  the  sinner  has 
only  to  repent  and  give  up  his  sins,  believe  and  trust  to  the 
aloninsr  blood  of  Christ.     At  the  same  time  there  were  two 


CHAKLE5   PAMLA's   LETTER.  97 

other?  who  had  never  found  peace  with  God  :  one  of  them 
was  a  member ;  but  the  other  two  were  unbelievers,  i 
kept  on  praying  and  showing  the  way  to  their  great  Creator 
God,  and  they  all  three  began  to  cry  aloud  with  a  broken 
and  contrite  heart.  I  went  on  praying.  First  one  found 
peace,  and  then  another,  until  they  all  found  peace.  And 
they  almost  showed  in  their  appearance  that  they  were  new 
creatures  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  following  evening  we  had 
another  meeting,  and  three  found  peace. 

I  went  to  Keiskamma  Hoek  the  next  Sunday,  and  took 
the  same  subject, — Justification  by  Faith ;  and  I  put  a  few 
strong  words  in  to  make  it  plainer  to  the  hearers.  It 
seemed  as  if  God  was  there  ;  the  congregation  were  shak- 
ing ;  it  seemed  as  if  every  one  of  them  were  condemned  by 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  Christ  seemed  to  be  there. 
They  began  to  cry  aloud  through  these  words,  beginning 
from  the  Leaders  to  the  members,  and  also  the  heathen 
who  were  there.  After  that  we  had  a  Prayer-meeting,  and 
again  preaching  about  "  the  way  to  the  kingdom — repent, 
and  believe  the  Gospel."  (Matt.  i.  15.)  It  was  the  same 
thing,  several  found  peace  during  these  two  services,  and 
many  cried  out  for  mercy  ;  and  I  proposed  another  service 
at  the  Tshoxa  in  the  evening.  Several  came  from  different 
places,  and  we  began  our  services,  and  God  visited  us  that 
night  with  a  great  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Some 
were  crying  for  mercy,  some  were  rejoicing,  those  that  bad 
just  found  peace,  saying,  "  We  were  in  darkness,  but  now 
we  are  in  light ;  our  eyes  are  open  to-day ;  we  were  dead, 
but  to-day  we  are  alive."  I  was  praying,  and  talking,  and 
addressing  them,  quoting  different  passages  for  their  benefit, 
and  my  heart  rejoiced  more  and  more  in  that  great  work  of 
God.  The  next  morning  we  had  another  meeting  :  it  was 
the  same  thing, — some  were  crying,  and  some  found  peace. 
I  examined  them  carefully  through  one  of  Wesley's  Ser- 


98  king  William's  town. 

mons  on  the  "  Witness  of  the  Spirit."  They  answered 
satisfactorily.  There  were  twenty-six  members  found  peace 
that  clay  and  night ;  also  one  backslider,  one  little  girl  about 
ten  years  of  age,  and  nine  people  who  were  heathens.  These 
thirty-seven  all  found  peace  with  God,  and  are  now  willing 
to  join  class  and  serve  God  with  all  their  heart,  and  mind, 
and  soul,  and  strength,  and  give  up  Kaffir  beer,  and  all 
other  heathen  customs,  and  every  sin,  and  be  fully  on  the 
Lord's  side  all  the  days  of  their  life,  by  God's  help.  This 
is  the  salvation  which  is  through  faith,  even  in  the  present 
world.  My  dear  Sir,  we  rejoice  in  this  great  work,  seeing 
that  God  has  not  altogether  given  up  His  people  the 
natives. 

Brothers  Lamplough,  Tlillier  and  Sawtell  gave 
us  valuable  assistance  in  our  prayer-meetings  in 
King  "William's  Town,  their  Kaffir  candidates  for 
the  ministry,  and  companions  in  the  local  ranks, 
looked  on,  listened,  and  learned  what  they  afterwards 
turned  to  good  account.  I  spent  much  time  with 
these  missionaries  and  our  kind  host,  in  conversation 
on  the  best  methods  of  missionary  enterprise.  While 
in  King  William's  Town  I  became  acquainted  with, 
Rev.  J.  W.  Appleyard,  a  mild,  sweet-spirited  brother, 
superintendent  of  our  Mount  Coke  Mission  Station, 
ten  miles  distant,  and  manager  of  the  Wesleyan 
Kaffir  printing-establishment  at  Mount  Coke.  Brother 
Appleyard  was  appointed,  by  the  Wesleyan  Con- 
ference, to  South  Africa  in  1839,  and  has  become  a 
thorough  master  of  the  Kaffir  language,  and  is  the 
author  of  a  grammar  of  that  language  of  high  repute 
among  the   missionaries.      With    the   assistance  of 


APPLEYARD's    KAFFIR  .BIBLE.  99 

some  fragmentary  translations  of  the  Bible,  by 
Brothers  Davis,  Dugmore,  and  others,  Brother  Apple- 
yard  has  translated  the  whole  book  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament  Scriptures  into  the  Kaffir  language, 
which,  under  his  immediate  supervision,  was  pub- 
lished in  one  neat  volume  in  London,  by  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  Some  parties,  not  be- 
lieved to  be  friendly  to  Wesleyan  successes  in  South 
Africa,  made  a  representation  to  the  managers  of  the 
Bible  Society,  stating  that  Appleyard's  translation 
was  a  miserable  failure.  This  led  to  a  critical  ex- 
amination of  it  by  competent  Kaffirs,  well-read  in 
the  English,  as  well  as  their  own  language,  who  have 
pronounced  it  an  excellent  translation. 

Brother  Appleyard  believes  that  the  Kaffir  lan- 
guage is  spoken  by  one  million  souls  in  South  Africa, 
and  probably  by  some  millions  in  Central  Africa, 
whence  these  South  African  Kaffirs  appear  to  have 
emigrated.  In  King  William's  Town  I  also  met 
with  Rev.  John  Longdon,  Wesleyan  missionary  at 
Butterworth,  in  Fingo-land,  who  gave  me  a  pres- 
sing Macedonian  call  to  help  him  ;  not  recognising  it 
then  as  a  call  from  the  Lord,  I  did  not  promise  to 
go,  but  afterwards  went,  nevertheless,  by  the  will  of 
God. 

I  visited  Mr.  George  Impey  in  his  last  illness,  the 
father  of  Rev.  William  Impey.  The  dear  old  man 
had  been  confined  to  his  room  for  four  years,  suffer- 
ing from  paralysis.  He  had  been  a  resident  of  the 
colony  for  twenty-two  years,  and  of  King  William's 


100  king  William's  town. 

Town  for  seven.  He  was  for  some  years  manager 
of  the  British  Kaffrarian  Bank,  and  was,  as  I 
learned  from  them,  who  knew  him  long  and  well, 
a  consistent,  cheerful  Christian,  and  a  Wesleyan 
Local  Preacher  of  superior  abilities.  He  was  not 
able  to  converse  much  when  I  saw  him,  but  was 
steadfast  in  faith,  and  his  victory  over  sin  and  Satan 
complete. 

I  sang  to  him  the  dying  sentiments  of  Bishop 
McKendree  : — 

What's  this  that  steals,  that  steals  upon  my  frame  ? 

Is  it  death  ?  Is  it  death  ? 
That  soon  shall  quench,  shall  quench  this  vital  flame, 
Is  it  death  ?  Is  it  death  ? 
If  this  be  death,  I  soon  shall  be 
From  every  pain  and  sorrow  free, 
I  shall  the  King  of  Glory  see  ! 
All  is  well,  all  is  well. 

Weep  not  my  friends,  my  friends  weep  not  for  me ; 

All  is  well,  all  is  well. 
My  sins  are  pardoned,  pardoned,  I  am  free  : 
All  is  well,  all  is  well. 
There's  not  a  cloud  that  doth  arise, 
To  hide  my  Saviour  from  my  eyes. 
I  soon  shall  mount  the  upper  skies  : 
All  is  well,  all  is  well. 

Tune,  tune  your  harps,  your  harps,  ye  saints,  in  glory 

All  is  well,  all  is  well. 
I  will  rehearse,  rehearse  the  pleasing  story, 
All  is  well,  all  is  well. 
Bright  angels  are  from  glory  come, 
They're  round  my  bed,  they're  in  my  room, 
They  wait  to  waft  my  Spirit  home, 
All  is  well,  all  is  well. 


MR.    GEORGE    TMPEY.  101 

Hark !  hark,  my  Lord,  my  Lord  and  Master  calls  me,, 

All  is  well,  all  is  well. 
I  soon  shall  see,  shall  see  His  face  in  glory, 
All  is  well,  all  is  well. 
Adieu,  adieu,  my  friends,  adieu, 
I  can  no  longer  stay  with  you, 
My  glittering  crown  appears  in  view, 
All  is  well,  all  is  well. 

All  through  the  singing  of  this  hymn,  which  has 
given  expression  to  the  triumphant  joy  of  multi- 
tudes of  dying  Christians  to  whom  I  have  sung  it, 
the  face  of  this  dying  patriarch  was  covered  with 
smiles,  and  streams  of  tears ;  and  his  hands  were 
waving,  as  though,  in  the  rapture  of  his  soul,  his 
dying  body  could  not  wait  its  appointed  time,  "  to 
wit,  the  redemption  of  our  bodies,"  but  would  fain 
mount  up  and  fly,  and  at  once  accompany  its  im- 
mortal tenant  to  its  "  house  not  made  with  hands, 
eternal  in  the  heavens."  For  a  time  he  seemed 
hardly  to  know  whether  he  was  "  in  the  body  or  out 
of  the  body  ;"  but  his  acute  bodily  sufferings  soon 
reminded  him  that  the  mortal  struggle  was  still 
pending.  He  then  grasped  my  hand,  and  with  tears, 
exclaimed; — "  Oh,  my  brother,  my  dear  brother,  it 
will  not  be  long !  All  is  well."  He  lingered  a  few 
weeks,  and  sank  to  peaceful  rest. 

Bev.  Brother  Hillier  begged  me  to  visit  Fort 
Peddie,  one  of  the  largest  mission  stations  in  the 
country ;  but  I  had  passed  that  en  route  from  Gra- 
ham's Town,  and  my  appointments  had  been  an- 
nounced in  advance,  for  every  day  for  weeks,  taking 


102  kino  William's  town. 

mc  quite  into  another  part  of  the  country,  so  I  had 
to  say  nay.  He  was  a  young  man  of  great  promise, 
recently  united  in  marriage  to  a  daughter  of  one  of 
our  old  missionaries,  Rev.  J.  Smith.  A  few  months 
after,  in  a  letter  from  Brother  Lamplough,  I  received 
the  following  sad  intelligence  : — "  You  will  remem- 
ber our  Brother  Hillier,  who  accompanied  Brother 
Sawtell  and  myself  to  King  William's  Town.  He 
died  about  a  fortnight  ago,  after  an  illness  of  three 
days.  The  last  sermon  he  heard  of  yours  was  that 
on  going  '  on  to  perfection.'  Under  that  sermon  he 
received  a  wonderful  blessing ;  indeed,  he  was  not 
like  the  same  man  afterwards,  either  in  his  spirit,  or 
in  his  preaching.  After  he  returned  to  his  circuit, 
he  sought,  and  found  a  fresh  baptism  from  on  high, 
which  led  him  to  preach  and  pray  for  a  revival  of 
God's  work,  and  it  was  not  long  before  it  came,  and 
some  hundreds  of  souls  entered  into  liberty  through 
Brother  Hillier's  instrumentality.  I  need  not  say 
that  he  died  trusting  in  Christ,  and  in  sure  and  cer- 
tain hope  of  everlasting  life."  As  I  am  usually  but 
a  week  on  a  circuit,  in  its  largest  and  most  central 
place  of  worship,  it  is  quite  as  much  my  business, 
under  the  leading  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  labour  for 
the  "perfecting  of  the  saints,"  as  in  the  "work  of 
the  ministry"  of  reconciliation  to  sinners,  so  as  to 
assist  the  Church  in  the  development,  and  increas- 
ingly effective  employment  of  her  home  resources 
and  agencies,  that  she  may  go  on,  in  humble  reliance 


MINISTEKS'   SONS.  103 

on  God,  without  foreign  special  agency,  conquering 
and  to  conquer. 

A  number  of  the  leading  business  men,  of  King 
William's  Town,  are  the  sons  of  our  old  missionaries 
and  members,  such  as  R.  Giddy,  Esq.,  the  son  of 
Rev.  Richard  Giddy,  chairman  of  the  Bechuana 
District,  Messrs.  Joseph  and  Richard  Walker,  sons 
of  Rev.  Father  Walker,  of  Graham's  Town,  one  of 
our  old  pioneer  missionary  Catechists,  and  others 
which  my  space  will  not  allow  me  to  introduce. 
These  men  are  an  honour  to  their  parents,  and  to  the 
Church.  Mr.  Joseph  Walker  presented  me  with  a 
fine  walking-stick,  turned  out  of  the  horn  of  a  huge 
African  rhinoceros.  It  came  just  at  the  time  I 
needed  it,  to  support  me  in  my  subsequent  out-door 
preaching  to  the  Kaffirs,  in  the  absence  of  pulpit, 
or  even  chairs,  for  we  generally  sat  on  the  grass. 

After  spending  a  few  days  at  our  series  of  services 
in  King  William's  Town,  on  Saturday,  the  9th  of 
June,  Charles  Pamla,  and  Boyce  Mama,  a  very  elo- 
quent and  successful  native  Kaffir  preacher,  went  to 
Mount  Coke  and  preached,  and  conducted  prayer- 
meetings  through  the  Sabbath,  and  Brother  Apple- 
yard  told  me  that  upwards  of  seventy  souls  professed 
to  find  peace  under  their  labours  that  day. 

On  Monday  they  returned  and  held  a  short,  but 
very  successful,  series  of  services  for  the  natives  in 
King  William's  Town.  Rev.  Brother  Fish,  in  his 
letter  before- mentioned,   says,  "  While  Mr.    Taylor 


104  king  avtlliam's  town. 

was  preaching  to  our  English  congregation,  Charles 
Pamla  devoted  two  or  three  days  to  preaching  at  the 
native  location  of  this  .town. 

"  His  '  word  came  not  in  word  only,  but  in  demon- 
stration of  the  Spirit  and  with  power/  It  pierced 
the  consciences  of  the  people.  The  Holy  Ghost  fell 
upon  them  ;  and  during  three  services,  nearly  eighty 
persons,  chiefly  young  men  and  women,  were  con- 
verted. Since  that  time,  to  a  great  extent  by  the 
instrumentality  of  my  native  preachers  and  leaders, 
nearly  forty  more  have  been  saved  at  the  same  place. 
The  work  is  still  going  on.  Every  week,  at  my  na- 
tive Leaders'  Meeting,  I  receive  the  names  of  new- 
converts." 

On  Thursday  morning,  the  14th  of  June,  Mr. 
Joseph  Walker  sent  his  carriage  and  pair  to  take 
me  to  Annshaw,  and  after  the  usual  shaking  of 
hands,  and  solemn  pledges  of  fidelity  to  God,  and  a 
joyful  meeting,  but  never  a  parting,  beyond  the  river, 
we  were  soon  on  our  way  across  the  Buffalo,  a  beauti- 
ful stream,  and  up  a  long  range  of  hills  to  their  sum- 
mits. Then  we  have  a  beautiful  view  of  the  town 
we  have  left,  and  in  every  direction  a  measureless 
extent  of  grassy  hills  and  valleys,  interspersed  with 
occasional  groves  of  the  Mimosa,  and  wild  aloes,  and 
patches  of  jungle,  of  a  great  variety  of  shrubbery  and 
intertwining  vines.  The  most  striking  feature  of 
the  African  jungle  is  the  euphorbia- tree,  standing 
thickly  and  high  above  the  rest.  Its  trunk  resembles 
somewhat  the  New   South  Wales  "  cabbage- tree," 


TRIP   TO   ANKSIIAW.  105 

which  is  a  very  tall,  beautiful  variety  of  the  palm. 
The  euphorbia,  however,  does  not  usually  grow  to  a 
height  exceeding  thirty  feet ;  its  limbs  and  leaves  are 
rather  lobes,  more  like  the  cactus  than  anything  I  can 
think  of,  and  is  sometimes  called  the  "  cactus-tree." 
A  few  miles  out  we  overtook  an  Englishwoman,  well 
dressed,  on  foot.  It  looked  strange  to  see  such  a 
respectable-looking  person  travelling  alone,  so  we 
asked  her  to  accept  a  seat  in  our  carriage,  which  she 
did,  without  a  second  asking.  She  said  her  teams  had 
gone  on  before,  en  route  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Kas- 
kamaHoek,  where  she  lived,  twenty- five  miles  dis- 
tant, and  having  stayed  in  town  longer  than  she 
expected,  she  would  have  trouble  to  overtake  them. 
We  put  her  about  five  miles  on  her  way,  for  which 
she  was  glad  and  grateful.  We  found  her  earnestly 
desiring  to  find  her  way  to  heaven,  but  knew  not  the 
way ;  so  I  gave  her  definite  instructions  which,  if 
followed,  will  surely  lead  her  to  Him  who  is  "  the 
Truth,  the  Life,  and  the  Way/'  I  was  glad  also  to 
have  the  opportunity  of  indirectly  preaching  the 
Gospel  to  my  Roman  Catholic  driver,  who  went 
to  my  native  service  that  night  to  hear  me 
preach,  and  saw  the  marvellous  effects  of  the 
Holy  Spirit's  work,  such  as  but  few  persons  ever 
see.  I  hope  I  may  overtake  both  of  my  wayside 
hearers  some  clay  on  the  hills  of  glory,  and  hear  the 
result. 

As  we  drove  along  I  saw,  for  the  first  time,  the 
Kaffirs  in  their  nude  state. 


100  king  William's  town. 

Having  travelled  about  fifteen  miles  we  "out- 
spanned"  at  a  public-house,  and  got  our  dinner, 
and  food  for  our  horses.  I  walked  down  into  a  field 
a  few  hundred  yards  from  our  hotel,  where  some 
men  were  thrashing  barley  with  a  machine  propelled 
by  four  oxen.  They  said  they  used  horses  till  they 
all  died  with  the  prevailing  "  horse  sickness/'  and 
then  "  inspanned  "  the  horned  cattle.  While  I  was 
there  one  of  their  oxen  seeming  to  get  suddenly  sick, 
fell  down,  and  they  could  not  get  him  up. 

Looking  to  the  hills  east  of  the  valley  in  which 
we  were  stopping,  lo,  a  novel  sight,  four  naked  Kaffir 
young  men,  each  mounted  on  a  young  bullock,  and 
dashing  along  like  Jehu.  They  used  a  kind  of  bridle, 
by  which  they  guided  them  at  will.  Sweeping  across 
the  valley  at  a  great  rate,  they  rode  up  to  the  public- 
house.  Their  animals  were  fat,  and  apparently 
almost  as  fleet  as  deer ;  they  came  up  panting  like 
racers,  as  they  were,  and  seemed  quite  impatient,  to 
stand.  Two  of  the  men  dismounted,  and  beckoned 
to  a  couple  of  naked  boys  to  hold  their  animals,  while 
they,  in  imitation  of  their  white  brethren,  went 
into  the  bar-room.  Whether  they  got  anything  to 
drink,  I  know  not,  as  I  do  not  patronize  the  bar ; 
but  like  prompt  men  of  business,  they  were  soon 
off,  and  we  saw  them  cantering  across  the  valley 
again  to  their  native  hills.  About  two  p.m.,  we 
saw  the  silvery  serpentine  flow  of  the  Keiskamma, 
and  the  mission- village  of  Annshaw  on  its  banks. 


AFJUYAL  AT  ANNSHAW.  107 

The  natives  were  assembling  from  all  directions,  and 
standing  round  in  groups,  waiting  the  arrival  of  the 
strange  "  umfundisi,"  and  as  we  descended  the 
hills,  they  came  running  10  mee*  us,  and  bid  us 
welcome. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ANNSHAW. 

The  first  Wesleyan  Mission,  established  among  the 
Kaffirs,  was  in  the  Amagonakwabi  tribe,  Amaxosa 
nation,  under  Chief  Pato,  and  his  brothers  Kobi  and 
Kama,  in  the  year  1823,  by  Rev.  W.  Shaw,  assisted 
by  Rev.  William  Shepstone. 

Mr.  Shepstone  came  out  from  "  Bristol "  in  the 
great  immigration  of  1820.  Though  not  a  minister, 
he  was  an  earnest  young  Wesleyan,  and  came  to 
Africa  specially  to  try  to  do  good.  In  addition  to 
his  usefulness  as  a  successful  Local  Preacher,  he  had 
other  talents  specially  adapting  him  to  missionary 
work  in  Kaffraria — where  ordinary  mechanics  were 
afraid  to  go,  lest  the  Kaffirs  should  kill  them— in 
that  his  craft  was  not  only  to  build  tents,  but  to  build 
houses.  In  due  course  of  time  he  was  received  by 
the  British  Conference,  and  ordained  a  minister  of 
the  Gospel,  and  has  been  actively  engaged  in  the 
South  African  missionary  work  ever  since.  He 
is     now    superintendent    of    Kamastone     Mission 


FlllST   KAFFIR   CONVERTS.  109 

Station,     and     chairman    of    the    Queen's     Town 
District. 

•  Nearlv  two  years  after  this  first  mission  station 
was  commenced,  Mr.  Shaw  makes  the  following 
record : — 

"  On  the  22nd  of  March,  1825,  I  held  the  first 
Methodist  Class-meeting  in  Kaffraria,  at  which  six 
of  the  natives  were  present.  We  were  exceedingly- 
gratified  with  the  truly  earnest  manner  in  which 
they  expressed  their  desire  to  save  their  souls."  Of 
their  next  meeting  the  following  week,  he  says, 
"  It  was  a  pleasing  and  profitable  occasion.  We 
had  good  reason  to  hope  well  of  all  who  were  pre- 
sent ;  but  they  are  very  weak  in  the  faith,  and  very 
ignorant,  and  must  be  treated  with  much  tenderness 
and  forbearance.  We  shall  consider  them  on  trial 
for  an  indefinite  period,  and  when  it  is  deemed  ex- 
pedient they  will  be  baptized."  "  In  August,  1825, 
three  natives  were  baptized,  in  the  presence  of  a 
large  assembly  of  people."  The  first-fruits  of  a 
glorious  harvest.  This  first  mission  station  grew 
into    a    native    village,    which    Mr.    Shaw    named 

"  Wesleyville." 

"Amongst  the  natives  whom  I  baptized  at  Wesley- 
ville,''  says  Mr.  Shaw,  "  were  the  Chief  Kama  and 
his  wife.     The  latter  is  a  daughter  of  the  great  Chief 

Gaika,  and  sister  of  Makomo,  the  noted  leader  in  the 

late  Kaffir  wars. 

"  Kama  and  his  wife,  amidst  many  temptations, 


110  ANN  SHAW. 

and  serious  difficulties,  designedly  put  in  their  wajT 
by  the  heathen  chiefs,  to  seduce  them  from  their 
steadfastness,  are  still  members  of  the  Church, 
and  are  very  regular  in  their  attendance  on  its  ordi- 
nances." 

Wesleyville  was  destroyed  in  the  Kaffir  war  of 
1835  ;  but  afterwards  rebuilt,  and  destroyed  again 
in  the  war  of  1848.  The  great  chiefs  Pato  and  Kobi, 
came  to  grief  in  those  wars.  One  has  spent  years  as 
a  prisoner  on  "  Eobin  Island,"  in  Table  Bay;  but 
their  tribe,  with  Kama  at  their  head,  remained  true 
to  the  British  Government,  and  hence  have  found  a 
peaceful  home  on  the  banks  of  the  Keiskamma,  in 
British  Kaffraria.  The  fragments  of  Wesleyville 
Mission  were  formed  into  a  mission  in  this  new  home 
of  the  tribe,  with  a  change  of  the  name  to  Ann- 
shaw. 

Chief  Kama,  who  is  now  an  old  man,  is  about  six 
feet  in  height,  well-proportioned,  and  corpulent. 
He  has  a  large  head,  a  broad  face,  very  benevolent 
expression,  with  the  usual,  not  black,  but  dark  copper- 
colour  of  the  "  royal  line  "  of  Kaffir  Chiefs.  He  is 
altogether  a  noble-looking  old  man.  The  Colonial 
Government  allows  him  a  small  pension.  About 
12,000  of  his  tribe  are  settled  about  him,  and  are 
under  his  rule,  subordinate  to  the  English  Govern- 
ment in  the  colony.  It  is  a  sad  fact,  but  may  be 
said  to  illustrate  the  uphill  wo^k  of  the  missionaries 
among  such  people,  that  Kama  is  the  only  "  para- 


CHIEF    KAMA.  Ill 

mount  chief"  in  Southern  Africa  who  is  connected 
with  any  Christian  Church.  Rev.  William  Sargent, 
who  established  the  Annshaw  Mission  Station,  and 
hence  knows  Kama  well,  told  me  he  heard  him,  in  a 
missionary  address,  tell  his  experience,  in  which  he 
said,  "  When  I  became  a  Christian,  my  fellow-chiefs 
and  many  of  my  people  laughed  at  me,  said  I  was 
a  fool,  and  that  I  never  would  become  a  ruling  chief, 
that  my  people  would  throw  me  away — that  I 
would  become  a  scabby  goat,  and  a  vagabond  in  the 
earth,  without  home  or  friends  ;  but  just  the  reverse 
of  all  that  has  come  to  pass.  I  was  then  young, 
and  had  no  people,  my  older  brothers  had  a  great 
people,  but  they  rejected  Christ,  and  lost  their 
people,  and  everything  they  had,  and  I  remain  the 
only  ruling  chief  of  my  tribe."  Kama  has  ever  re- 
mained true  to  the  Wesleyan  Church.  It  was  said, 
with  great  regret,  by  some  of  the  missionaries,  that 
he  had  become  cold  in  religion,  and  was  too  fond  of 
strong  drink ;  but  during  the  recent  revival  among 
his  people,  he  has  been  fully  reclaimed,  and  is  happy 
in  God.  His  only  wife  still  lives,  and  is,  I  am  told, 
a  superior  woman. 

The  paramount  chief  of  the  Amatembu  tribe, 
from  which  nearly  all  the  ruling  chiefs  get  their 
"  great  wives"  (the  mothers  of  the  ruling  line  of 
paramount  chiefs),  sent,  by  a  deputation  of  his 
counsellors,  with  all  the  ceremony  due  to  such  an 
occasion,  a  young  woman  to  Kama,  to  become  his 


112  ANNSHAW. 

"  great  wife."  In  the  olden  time  a  refusal,  on  Kama's 
part,  would  have  furnished  an  occasion  for  war. 
When  this  party  arrived  near  Kama's  "  great  place," 
they  "  sat  down,"  according  to  the  ceremony  to  be  ob- 
served in  approaching  a  chief,  to  wait  his  pleasure. 
Kama  refused  to  see  them,  but  sent  them  a  bullock 
that  they  might  slay,  and  eat,  and  then  go  about 
their  business.  They  tarried  but  a  night,  and  left 
unceremoniously  in  the  morning. 

Kama  has  but  three  sons  ;  the  first  was  a  Wesleyan 
at  one  time,  but  was  ensnared  by  the  trap  laid  for 
his  father,  and  took  a  second  wife,  became  a  heathen, 
and  is  such  a  wreck  that  it  is  not  likely  that  the 
tribe  or  the  Colonial  Government  will  ever  promote 
him  to  ruling  power.  His  second  son,  William 
Shaw,  is  a  man  of  great  amiability,  sound  intelli- 
gence, and  sterling  Christian  integrity.  He  would, 
no  doubt,  succeed  his  father  in  the  chieftainship,  but 
has  devoted  himself  to  the  ministry,  and  was  with 
Charles  Pamla  and  two  others,  "received  on  trial/', 
at  the  recei  t  session  of  the  British  Conference 
(1866).  His  third  son  is  a  good  young  man,  but  is 
thought  to  be  dying  with  consumption. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  received,  by  a 
letter,  the  following  corroborative  and  additional 
facts  concerning  the  Chief  Kama  from  Rev.  Robert 
Lamplough,  who  has  been  his  missionary  for  the  last 
six  years  : — "  The  Chief  Kama  is  a  fine,  tall,  very 
dignified-looking  man,  nearly  seventy  years  of  age. 
He  first  became  known  to  Rev.  W.  Shaw,  when  he 


MR.    SHAW   AND   THE   YOUNG   CHIEF.  LI  3 

and  his  tribe  lived  near  the  sea  in  the  Peddie  Dis- 
trict. He  was  then  a  young  man,  and  a  red  heathen ; 
and  he  and  his  tribe  had  no  friendship  with  the 
white  man.  When  Mr.  Shaw  went  among  them 
about  forty-three  years  ago,  they  showed  him 
where  to  build  his  place  remote  from  their  kraals, 
for  they  said,  "  This  word  of  God  will  bring  sickness 
among  us."  Mr.  Shaw,  however,  refused  to  go  so  far 
away  from  them,  and  they  at  last  consented  for  him 
to  live  near  their  kraals.  Mr.  Shaw  soon  taught 
them  about  the  Sabbath-day,  and  that  on  the  Sabbath 
they  were  expected  to  attend  the  services,  and  hear 
the  Word  of  God  preached.  On  one  occasion  Mr. 
Shaw  asked  Kama  to  accompany  him  to  Graham's 
Town,  but  his  people  were  very  much  opposed  to 
this,  saying,  that  Kama  would  "be  killed  by  the 
English." 

Mr.  Shaw  said,  "  I  shall  leave  my  wife  with 
you,  and  if  Kama  is  killed,  you  will  kill  her."  At 
this  they  knew  not  what  to  say,  and,  finally,  they 
consented  to  Kama's  going  to  Graham's  Town.  It 
was  on  this,  and  subsequent  journeys,  that  Kama 
and  Mr.  Shaw  became  great  friends.  The  people  of 
Kama's  tribe  observed  this,  and  were  evidently  afraid 
of  the  consequences ;  they  tried  to  prevent  Kama 
from  going  so  often  to  visit  Mr.  Shaw,  and  they  told 
him  that  if  he  was  so  much  with  the  minister  he 
would  be  converted.  Kama  at  this  time  was  poor, 
and  Mr.  Shaw  advised  him  to  buy  a  wagon,  telling; 
him  that  it  would  help  him  very  much.      When 

I 


.114  ANNSIIAW. 

Kama  told  his  people  that  he  was  going  to  buy  a 
wagon,  they  were  still  more  afraid,  and  they  tried 
to  hinder  him  in  every  possible  way.  But  Kama 
would  not  listen  to  them,  and  so  he  gave  Mr.  Shaw 
ten  fat  oxen  that  he  might  buy  a  wagon  for  him  in 
Graham's  Town.  That  wagon  made  Kama  rich,,  so 
that  in  time  he  had  three  kraals  full  of  cattle. 

One  morning  Kama  went  to  visit  Mr.  Shaw ;  he 
found  him  writing.  Mr.  Shaw  said  to  Kama,  "  Do 
you  know  my  face  and  name  ?  "  Kama  replied,  "  Yes." 
Mr.  Shaw  said,  "  And  I  know  your  face  and  name," 
and  then  went  on  to  talk  to  him,  telling  him  that  in 
the  next  world  they  would  know  each  other  as  they 
did  in  that  room.  This  word  came  home  to  the 
Chiefs  heart,  and  led  eventually  to  his  conversion  ; 
there  soon  followed  others,  a  brother  of  Kama's 
amongst  the  number. 

Some  years  after  this,  when  Kama  was  living  at 
Newtondale,  about  ten  miles  from  Peddie,  and  being 
now  a  member  of  the  Wesleyan  Church,  another 
Kaffir  chief  sent  his  daughter  to  Kama  that  he 
might  marry  her  for  his  second  wife  (his  first  being 
still  alive),  Kama  sent  word  to  the  Chief  that  he 
coidd  not  take  a  second  wife,  for  he  was  a  Christian 
and  feared  God.  This  word  of  Kama's  might  have 
caused  war  between  his  people  and  the  other  chief 
and  his  tribe,  and  his  brothers  and  people  did  their 
best  to  make  him  take  this  woman,  saying  that  they 
.were  afraid  they  would  be  killed  by  the  other  chiei 


chief  Kama's  courage.  115 

and  his  people.  Kama  nobly  replied,  "  I  am  ready 
to  die,  rather  than  take  two  wives,"  and  forthwith 
he  sent  away  the  Chiefs  daughter  without  seeing 
her,  with  a  present  of  four  cattle. 

After  this  the  small-pox  broke  out  amongst  the 
people,  and  many  died  of  this  fearful  disease.  Tha 
other  chiefs  were  for  killing  all  the  people  living  at 
infected  places.  Kama  said  that  he  would  not  allow 
such  a  thing ;  but  notwithstanding  all  his  efforts  to 
prevent  it,  some  were  killed  secretly.  When  Kama 
heard  of  it,  he  spoke  much  to  his  people  about  it,  and 
told  them  that  God  would  not  approve  of  such  things. 
The  other  chiefs  said  that  they  would  prepare  to 
make  war  upon  Kama,  and  kill  him,  for  preventing 
the  killing  of  all  who  lived  at  the  places  where  the 
small-pox  was.  To  this  Kama  replied,  that  he  would 
not  consent,  though  they  should  fight  with  him. 

In  consequence  of  this  and  other  things,  Kama 
determined  to  leave  that  part  of  the  country ;  but 
first  he  informed  the  English  Government  about  it, 
who  gave  him  full  permission  to  go  where  he  chose. 
Some  of  his  people  did  not  accompany  him,  but  others 
would  not  forsake  him,  and  they  set  forth,  intending 
to  go  as  far  as  Moshesh's  country ;  but  finally  they 
settled  in  what  was  then  the  Tambookie  country. 
Whilst  living  here  Kama  preached  to  the  people,  for 
they  had  no  minister ;  but  Kama  got  them  together 
on  Sundays, — his  eldest  son  Samuel  used  to  read  foi 
him  out  of  God's  Word,  and  Kama  preached  to  the 


110  ANN  SHAW. 

people  regularly.  None  of  his  sons  were  converted 
at  that  time  ;  but  after  some  time  his  two  sons, 
Samuel  and  William  Shaw  (who  was  at  the  last 
session  of  the  English  Conference  admitted  to  the 
ministry),  together  with  several  others,  were  brought 
to  God,  and  the  Rev.  Wm.  Shepstone  afterwards  came 
and  baptized  the  young  converts,  and  took  charge  of 
the  people ;  and  thus  were  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  Mission  Station,  so  wonderfully  visited  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  late,  called  after  the  Chief — "  Kama- 
stone." 

Chief  Kama  lives  in  a  good  substantial  house  of 
English  style,  about  three  hundred  yards  from  the 
chapel.  The  mission-house  is  a  large,  one-story 
cottage,  with  verandah,  extending  all  along  the  front. 
The  chapel  is  a  wood  building,  plain,  but  neat,  and 
will  seat  about  six  hundred  persons.  These,  with 
a  few  square  native  houses,  stand  out  as  the  promi- 
nent buildings  of  the  place  ;  next  to  these,  what  is 
more  interesting  to  a  stranger,  the  humble  dwellings 
of  the  natives.  These  are,  for  the  most  part,  round 
huts,  one  class  of  which,  shaped  exactly  like  a 
haycock,  consists  simply  of  a  framework  of  small 
poles  and  twigs,  covered  all  over  and  down  to  the 
ground  with  long  grass,  beautifully  thatched.  A 
hole  about  two  feet  wide,  and  three  feet  high,  is  left 
on  one  side  as  the  door.  The  fire  is  built  in  the 
centre,  and  the  smoke  slowly  works  its  "way  up 
through  the  thatch,  making  it  black  inside  and  ouc. 
Europeans  would  not  enjoy  a  residence  in  such  an, 


KAFFIR   HUTS.  117 

establishment  I'm  sure.  Others  are  built  up  of 
"  wattle  and  daub,"  in  a  perpendicular  wall,  from 
four  to  five  feet  high,  and  covered  with  thatch,  just 
like  the  former.  A  third  class  of  huts  are  built  just 
like  the  second,  except  that  the  round  wall,  rising 
from  five  to  seven  feet  high,  is  made  sometimes  of 
sod,  but  more  frequently  of  solid  blocks  of  clay, 
somewhat  like  the  Mexican  "  adobes,"  plastered  over 
with  mortar.  These  are  very  comfortable  dwellings 
for  the  higher  classes. 

At  the  time  of  my  arrival  at  Annshaw,  there  were 
in  the  circuit  a  Wesleyan  membership  of  six  hundred, 
most  of  whom  were  Kama's  Kaffirs,  the  rest  were 
Fin  goes.  Charles  Pamla,  an  Amazulu  Fingoe,  had  been 
labouring,  principally  among  Kama's  Tribe,  as  an  un- 
paid evangelist,  for  several  years.  He  is  one  of  the 
evangelists  mentioned  in  last  year's  (1865)  official 
reports  of  the  Annshaw  circuit,  an  extract  from 
which  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  breaking  up  of* 
fallow  ground  in  that  important  field.  "  This  circuit 
has  prospered  spiritually  during  the  year.  Discipline 
has  been  beneficially  exercised.  Conversions  have 
resulted  in  several  instances.  The  officers  of  the 
church  have  been  much  quickened.  Three  evange- 
lists have  been  diligently  employed  in  preaching  at 
the  heathen  Kraals,  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
year.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that,  partly  through 
their  efforts,  one  or  two  conversions  have  taken  place 
among  the  heathen,  and  in  other  respects  their  la- 
bours have  been  attended  with  good." 


118  ANNSIIAW. 

Brother  Lamplough  gave  me  Charles  Painla  to 
interpret  for  me. 

Before  the  service,  I  took  him  alone,  and  preached 
my  sermon  to  him,  filling  his  head  and  heart  full  of 
it.  After  he  had  heard  me  preach  in  King  William's 
Town,  I  asked  him  if  he  could  put  my  sermon  into 
Kaffir. 

"  No,  Mr.  Taylor,  I  think  I  could  not.  I  under- 
stood the  most  of  it,  but  I  can  only  interpret  low 
English,  and  you  speak  high  English." 

I  at  once  determined  to  study  "  low  English." 
And  now  when  I  was  preaching  to  him  alone,  I  told 
him  to  stop  me  at  every  word  he  could  not  fully 
understand.  I  was  fully  committed  to  make  one 
more  effort  at  the  second-hand  mode  of  preaching, 
through  a  spokesman.  Having  gone  through  with 
the  discourse,  I  gave  my  man  a  talk  on  naturalness. 

"  But,"  said  he,  "  I  must  speak  loudly  sometimes." 

I  then  saw  that  by  naturalness  he  thought  I  meant 
simply  the  conversational  style. 

"  0,  jes/'  I  replied,  "  as  loudly  as  you  like  at  the 
right  time.  The  scream  of  a  mother,  on  seeing  her 
child  fall  into  a  well,  is  as  natural  as  her  lullaby  in 
the  nursery.  God  hath  given  us  every  variety  of  vocal 
power  and  intonation  adapted  to  express  every 
variety  of  the  soul's  emotions,  from  the  softest 
whispers,  like  the  mellow  murmurs  of  the  rippling 
rill,  up  to  the  thundering,  crashing  voices  of  the 
cataract.  I  however,  put  it  into  "  low  English,"  so 
that  he  understood  me  perfectly. 


FIRST   REVIVAL    SERVICE.  119 

At  four  p.m.  of  Thursday,  June  14th,  we  com- 
menced our  first  service.  Brother  Lamplough 
opened  with  singing  and  prayer.  I  stood  in  the 
small  pulpit,  and  Charles  on  the  top  step  by  my 
side.  In  front  we  see  the  crowded  audience  of  natives, 
packed  in  to  every  square  foot  of  space,  including  the 
aisles.  The  mission-station  people — men  and  women 
— are  all  clothed  in  European  dress,  the  head-dress  of 
the  women  consisting  of  a  handkerchief,  usually 
red,  turbaned  round  with  some  display  of  taste. 
The  heathens  are  painted  red  with  ochre,  the  men 
wrapped  in  a  blanket,  the  women  wearing  a  skirt 
of  dressed  leather,  with  head-dress,  similar  to  the 
fashion  of  the  station  women.  To  our  left,  in  the 
corner,  are  my  Romanist  driver,  and  Mr.  Harper, 
who  had  come  .to  drive  me  next  day  to  Love- 
dale,  also  Sister  Sawtell,  Sister  Lamplough,  and  her 
children  ;  in  the  altar  below  us  were  the  two  circuit 
ministers ;  on  our  right,  next  the  wall,  were  Chief 
Kama  and  the  Fingoe  Chief,  Hlambisa,  from  Ama- 
tola  Basin,  fifteen  miles  distant,  who  rules  a  tribe  of 
fifteen  thousand  Fingoes  in  the  Amatola  mountains. 
lie  is  Brother  Pamla's  uncle,  but  a  hardened  old 
heathen,  with  about  a  dozen  wives.  We  announced 
as  the  text  the  last  words  of  Jesus,  "  Ye  shall  receive 
power,  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you, 
and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  both  in  Jerusalem, 
and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth."  The  sermon  was  entirely 
to  believers.     I  believe  Charles  gave  every  idea  and 


120  ANNSHAW. 

shade  of  thought  as  naturally  and  as  definitely  as  if 
they  had  originated  in  his  own  brain.  Indeed,  black 
as  he  was,  he  seemed  a  transparent  medium  through 
which  my  Gospel  thoughts,  rendered  luminous 
and  mighty  by  the  Holy  Spirit's  unction,  shone 
brightly  through  the  soul  windows — the  eyes  and 
ears  of  my  sable  hearers — down  into  the  depths  of 
their  hearts.  All  through  the  discourse  of  one  hour 
and  a  quarter  there  was  a  profound  silence  through- 
out the  assembly,  rendered  awful  in  solemnity  by 
the  deep  consciousness  that  every  one  seemed  to  feel 
of  the  presence  of  a  power  which,  like  a  slumbering 
earthquake,  would  soon  break  forth  in  manifest  gran- 
deur. After  a  season  of  silent  prayer,  at  the  close 
of  the  discourse,  silent  for  a  time,  but  slightly  inter- 
rupted by  the  uncontrollable  emotions  of  the  people, 
we  dismissed  the  assembly  to  give  a  little  time  for 
refreshment  and  reflection  before  the  evening  service. 
After  a  hasty  tea  I  went  alone  with  Charles,  and 
gave  him  in  detail  the  sermon  for  the  evening,  and 
we  again  stood  before  the  people  at  8  p.m.,  and 
preached  to  sinners  from  the  text,  "  As  I  live,  saith 
the  Lord  God,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the 
wicked  j  but  that  the  wicked  turn  from  his  way 
and  live.  Turn  ye,  turn  ye  from  your  evil  ways, 
for  why  will  ye  die  ?  "  We  had  about  the  same 
congregation,  in  the  same  order,  as  in  the  afternoon. 
During  the  preaching  of  over  an  hour,  the  beaming 
faces  of  believers,  the  distorted  features  of  sinners, 
the  tearful  eyes  of  both,  all  in  solemn  silence  before 


'    WHY   WILL   YE    DIE?""  121 

the  Lord,  and  the  voices  of  His  prophets,  presented 
altogether  a  scene  which  neither  painter  nor  poet 
can  describe ;  and  yet,  to  be  felt  and  witnessed,  was 
to  receive  an  impression  never  to  be  effaced  while 
memory  endures. 

At  the  close  of  the  discourse  I  said,  "  Charles,  I  will 
sing  a  hymn  suitable  to  the  subject,  but  I  only  know 
it  by  memory  to  the  time  of  the  tune,  and  can't  line 
it  for  you,  but  I  will  sing  a  line  at  a  time,  and  you 
will  put  it  into  Kaffir."  I  then  sang  as  follows,  line 
by  line,  leaving  time  for  the  translation  into  another 
language,  the  hymn  called — 

WHY  WILL  YE  DIE? 

"  Sinners,  hastening  down  to  ruin, 

Why  will  ye  die  ? 
Jesus  is  your  souls  pursuing1, 

Why  will  ye  die  ? 
Though  from  Him  you  still  are  flying. 
All  His  power  and  love  defying, 
Hark,  how  loudly  He  is  crying  ! 

Why  will  ye  die  ? 

Sinai  asks  in  loudest  thunder, 

Why  wall  ye  die  ? 
Heaven  and  earth  cry  out  with  wonde:, 

Why  will  ye  die  ? 
Sinners,  sunk  in  degradatvn, 
While  rejecting  God's  salvation, 
This  is  Heaven's  expostulation, 

W  hy  will  ye  die  ? 

Jesu's  groans,  on  Calvary's  mountain — 

Why  will  ye  die  ? — 
Speak  with  blood  that  fills  the  fountain. 

Why  will  ye  die  ? 


122  ANNSIIAW. 

Blood  that  ransomed  every  nation, 
Fits  for  heaven's  exalted  station. 
Sinners,  now  accept  salvation. 
Why  will  ye  die  ? 

Death  and  hell  cry  out,  while  hasting, 

Why  will  ye  die  ? 
And  your  feeble  strength  while  wasting, 

Why  will  ye  die  ? 
When  you  cross  cold  Jordan's  river, 
And  your  doom  is  fixed  for  ever, 
God  will  ask  no  more — no,  never, 

Why  will  ye  die  ? 

But  through  everlasting  ages, 

Then  you  must  die ! 
While  hell's  howling  tempest  rages, 

Then  you  must  die  ! 
Stripp'd  of  every  earthly  pleasure  ; 
Lost  for  ever,  heavenly  treasure  ; 
Burning  vengeance  without  measure  ; 

But  cannot  die ! 

Charles  not  only  put  every  line  into  Kaffir,  but 
after  the  first  verse,  he  gave  them  the  tune  as  well, 
though  he  had  never  heard  it  before.  When  spoken 
to  about  it  the  next  day,  he  said  that  he  was  not 
aware  of  the  fact  that  he  had  sung  it,  as  he  only 
meant  to  give  the  words. 

The  ministers  present  seemed  to  think  it  the 
result  of  an  extraordinary  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Sj)irit,  which  was  true  in  a  very  glorious  sense,  but  I 
believe  the  Spirit's  work  on  the  whole  occasion  was 
perfectly  adjusted  to  the  human  conditions  employed, 
and  did  not  miraculously  rise  above,  or  suspend 
any  physical  law.     The  fact  was,  I  had  a  very  apt 


CHAULES   TaMLA's   SINGING.  123 

scholar  for  my  interpreter.  He  had  so  thoroughly 
digested  my  lecture  on  Naturalness,  that,  though  he 
has  a  voice  for  variety,  pathos  and  volume,  so  grandly 
superior  that  he  could  not  be  an  ape,  yet  in  his  own 
natural  voice  he  gave  every  intonation  of  mine, 
running  through  at  least  two  octaves,  during  the  dis- 
course, so  when  he  commenced  to  render  the  lines 
which  I  was  singing,  he  seemed  at  first  a  little  con- 
fused, for  he  had  lost  the  key-note  of  my  intonations, 
but  soon  his  voice  mounted  up  into  the  regions  of 
6ong,  and  echoed,  perfectly  as  a  keyed  instrument, 
my  singing  tones,  just  as  he  had  before  echoed  my 
speaking  tones.  Charles,  however,  was  not  simply 
a  medium  through  which  my  thoughts  were  conveyed 
to  the  people.  He  had  been  under  Brother  Lamp- 
lough's  training  for  several  years,  and  was  well  read 
in  Bible  doctrines,  and,  better  still,  had  a  holy  heart, 
and  the  prophetic  unction  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and, 
having  the  subject  fully  impressed  on  his  retentive 
memory  by  my  personal  preaching  to  him  alone, 
he  uttered  every  sentence  from  his  heart,  just  as  I 
did  myself,  so  that  by  the  union  of  two  heads  and  two 
hearts,  under  the  Holy  Spirit's  power,  we  worked  a 
double  heart  battery,  which  seemed  to  give  the 
preaching  through  an  interpreter  much  greater 
power  than  singly  and  directly,  without  an  inter- 
preter. 

Through  all  the  preaching  service  addressed 
mainly  to  the  intellect,  conscience,  and  will,  there 
was  the  keen  piercing  of  the  Spirit's  sword,  and  deep 


124  ANNSHAW. 

awakening,  but  profound  silence.     Before  the  prayer- 
meeting  commenced,  I  explained  the  simple  plan  of 
salvation  by  faith  to  the  seekers  collectively,  just  as 
I  would  to  each  one  personally.     Then  we  invited  all 
who  had  intelligently  and  determinately  decided  to 
surrender  themselves  to  God,  and  accept  Christ  as 
their   Saviour,  to   come  forward  to  the  front  forms. 
They  at  once  came  as  fast  as  they  could  press  their 
way.     Beginning  at  the  front  forms,  they  filled  form 
after  form  with   seekers,  till  at  least  two  hundred 
penitents  were  down  on  their  knees.     There  was  no 
loud  screaming  of  any  one  above  the  rest,  but  their 
pent  up  emotions  now  found  vent  in  audible  prayers, 
sighs,  groans,  and  floods  of  tears.     When  the  prayer- 
meeting  had  thus  progressed  for  about  fifteen  minutes, 
Brother  L.  said,  "  Had  we  not  better  dismiss  them, 
and  let  them  go  off  alone,  and  seek  by  the  river  ? 
The  old  missionaries  have  told  me  that  it  will  not 
do  to  let  them  give  way  to  their  feelings,  lest  they 
run  into  wild  extravagance.     They  will  go  off  to  the 
river  and  pray  all  night." 

"  Why,  my  dear  brother,"  I  replied,  "  this  is  not 
a  rush  of  blind  emotional  excitement.  The  most  of 
these  people  have  been  under  your  teaching  for  years, 
and  we  have  just  explained  the  way  of  salvation  to 
them,  so  that  under  the  enlightening  power  of  the 
Spirit,  every  child  here  of  ten  years  can  understand 
it.  They  are  now  intelligently  coming  to  Jesus.  The 
Holy  Spirit  is  leading  them.  Why  interrupt  them 
at  this  most  important  juncture,  and  send  them  ofi 


A    HARVEST   OF   SOULS.  125 

to  the  river  to  battle  witli  Satan  alone,  and  take  a 
bad  cold  as  well  ?  They  are  emotional  beings,  to  be 
sure,  and  have  not  the  same  control  of  their  feelings 
as  the  mass  of  Europeans  ;  but  all  the  noise  of  this 
occasion  is  in  beautiful  harmony  with  all  the  facts  in 
their  case.  This  is  unquestionably  the  work  of  God. 
AVe  will  just  keep  our  hands  '  off  the  Ark  of  God,'  and 
let  the  Holy  Ghost  attend  to  His  own  business,  in 
His  own  way." 

Upon  reflection,  Brother  Lamplough  heartily  con- 
curred with  my  views  of  the  subject,  and  entered 
most  earnestly  into  the  work.  It  was  not  long  till 
they  began  to  enter  into  the  liberty  of  the  children 
of  God.  I  soon  saw  that  Charles  Pamla,  Wm.  Kama, 
and  others,  were  quite  at  home  in  the  work.  As  fast 
as  they  found  peace,  the  new  converts  were  separated 
from  the  seekers,  and  seated  apart  on  the  other  side 
of  the  chapel.  They  were  then  quiet  as  the  Gadarene, 
"  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  clothed,  and  in  his 
right  mind."  All  were  personally  examined  as  to 
their  experience,  and  the  names  of  those  who  gave  a 
satisfactory  testimony  to  their  having  obtained  peace 
with  God,  through  an  acceptance  of  Jesus  Christ, 
were  written  down,  that  the  pastor  might  the  more 
readily  find  them,  and  get  them  at  once  into  the 
visible  fold  of  the  Church.  At  the  close  of  the 
prayer-meeting,  it  was  found  that  seventy  souls  had 
professed  to  find  remission  of  their  sins  that  night. 
To  me  it  was  the  harmony  of  heaven.  I  felt  an  in- 
describable joy,  not  simply  on  account  of  the  great 


126  AN1\SHAW. 

work  of  God  in  the  salvation  of  the  Kaffirs,  which  was 
an  occasion  of  great  joy  to  "  the  angels  of  God/'  bu. 
especially  because  the  spell  that  bound  me  within  the 
lines  of  my  native  language  was  broken.  I  could 
now  preach  effectively  through  an  interpreter,  and 
the  heathen  world  seemed  suddenly  opened  to  my 
personal  enterprise,  as  an  ambassador  for  Christ. 
The  service  was  continued  that  night  till  midnight. 
No  one  then  seemed  willing  to  leave  ;  but  knowing 
the  danger  of  violating  physical  laws  by  excessive 
labour,  and  loss  of  sleep,  and  hence  involving 
damaging  penalties,  we  prevailed  on  them  to  retire 
and  seek  a  little  rest.  The  natives,  however,  were 
back  to  a  sunrise  prayer- meeting,  and  seemed  fresh 
and  earnest  as  before. 

That  day,  Friday,  the  15th  of  June,  at  10  a.m. 
we  preached  again  to  about  the  same  crowd  we  had 
the  preceding  day,  and  continued  the  prayer-meeting 
service  till  two  p.m.  During  the  three  services  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  persons,  prcfessing  to  obtain  the 
pardon  of  their  sins,  were  examined,  and  their 
names  and  addresses  recorded. 

After  a  hasty  dinner,  Mr.  Harper  took  me  and 
Sister  Sawtell  into  his  cart  and  drove  us  over  the 
hills,  thirteen  miles  to  his  house  in  "  Alice/' — also 
called  "  Lovedale."  One  of  the  industrial  schools, 
established  under  the  patronage  of  Governor  Grey 
is  located  in  that  lovely  dale.  It  is  under  the  diree* 
tion  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Missions,  and  ia 
being  carried  on,  I  was  informed,  with  a  good  degree 


LOVED  ALE.  127 

of  success.  Getting  in  late,  and  leaving  next  morn- 
ing, I  could  not  do  myself  the  pleasure  of  visiting 
the  institution.  The  Wesleyans  have  a  comfortable 
chapel  there,  small,  but  large  enough  for  the  demands 
of  the  village.  It  belongs  to  the  Fort  Beaufort 
Circuit,  but  the  little  society  had  dwindled  down, 
I  was  informed,  to  such  a  dwarfish,  sickly  state,  that 
they  could  not  keep  up  a  class  or  prayer-meeting.  I 
preached  there  that  night  to  a  full  chapel.  Most  of 
them  were  very  serious  and  attentive,  but  one  man, 
well-dressed  and  apparently  influential,  kept  up  a 
sort  of  incredulous  scoffing,  grinning  all  the  time. 
In  extraordinary  contrast  with  the  results  of  the 
preceding  night,  not  one  seeker  responded  to  the 
call  so  far  as  to  say,  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?" 
Many,  I  believe,  however,  were  awaked,  who  followed 
us  to  Fort  Beaufort,  thirteen  miles  distant,  and  after- 
wards there,  and  at  Heald  Town,  embraced  Christ, 
and  a  good  work  in  "Alice"  followed,  and  a  healthy 
young  society  was  organized  there.  The  widow  of 
one  of  our  old  missionaries,  Rev.  Mr.  Garner,  lives 
in  that  village ;  but  my  weariness  from  excessive 
labours,  and  limited  time,  prevented  me  from  calling 
to  see  her.  Several  of  her  family,  however,  were 
saved  at  my  services  in  different  places.  On  Satur- 
day morning  the  16th  of  June,  Rev.  John  Wilson, 
Superintendent-  of  Fort  Beaufort  Circuit,  drove  me, 
in  a  cart  and  pair,  to  his  house  at  the  Fort,  where  I 
spent  six  days. 

While  at  Fort  Btauiort,  tweniy-rive  miles  distant 


128 


ANN«HAW. 


from  Annshaw,  I  received  a  letter  from  Brother 
Lamplough,  dated  June  19th,  an  extract  from  which 
will  illustrate  the  progress  of  the  work  in  Kama's 
tribe. 

"  My  dear  brother, 

"  You  will  rejoice  to  hear  that  165  profess  to 
have  found  peace  since  you  left,  makmg  altogether 
280  since  your  arrival  at  Annshaw  on  Thursday  last. 
Besides  these,  from  what  I  can  ]earn,  there  are  at 
least  twenty  more  at  the  out-stations,  who  are  not 
yet  reported.  More  than  two-thirds  of  this  number 
were  not  members,  some  were  heathens,  others  were 
notoriously  hard  and  wicked  characters,  whilst  a  few 
had  been  professedly  seeking  salvation  for  ten  or 
fifteen  years,  and  could  not  find  it,  but  have  now 
entered  into  liberty.  Never  was  such  a  work  seen 
among  the  natives  of  Kama's  tribe  before,  and  I 
question  whether  there  has  ever  been  such  a  work 
for  power  and  rapidity  in  this  country  before.  To 
have  about  300  souls  brought  to  God  in  less  than 
five  days,  is  indeed  a  glorimis  thing,  especially  when 
we  consider  that  not  more  than  a  thousand  people 
have  been  brought  within  the  sphere  of  the  influence. 
I  suppose  the  congregation  at  Annshaw  was  about 
600  souls,  and  I  can  scarcely  find  one  who  heard  you 
preach  who  is  not  now  converted.  Indeed,  so  thorough 
has  been  the  work,  that  to  keep  the  supply  of  seekers, 
we  have  had  to  send  out  every  day  for  fresh  batches 
of  heathens  and  formalists  from  the  out-stations, 
who  very  soon  ^nter  into  Jihertv 


ALL  THE  PEOPLE  SAVED.  129 

On  Annshaw  station  I  cannot  call  to  mind  a  man 
or  woman,  and  hardly  a  boy  or  girl,  who  is  without 
a  professed  sense  of  pardon.  The  Church  is  wonder- 
fully revived,  and  the  Leaders  and  Local  Preachers 
are  stirred  up  to  look  for  yet  greater  things.  Charles 
Pamla  and  Wm.  Shaw  Kama  are  especially  useful. 
They  returned  on  Sunday  from  their  appointments, 
bringing  a  list  of  the  spoils  taken  from  the  enemy, 
amounting  to  thirty-four.  They  are  going  out  again 
to-day,  and  intend  to  remain  all  night.  I  doubt  not 
the  Lord  will  bless  their  labours  abundantly.  I  hope 
soon  to  be  able  to  go  out  to  some  of  the  heathen 
kraals,  and  try  the  plan  suggested  and  adopted  by 
yourself  (that  is  St.  Paul's  plan  of  '  disputing  with 
them  daily/  till  all  Asia  shall  hear  the  word  of  the 
Lord).  I  wish  I  could  get  out  at  once,  but  so  many 
things  have  to  be  attended  to.  These  new  converts 
have  to  be  formed  into  classes,  under  the  care  of 
suitable  leaders,  and  this  is  a  work  that  cannot  be 
neglected/' 

A  few  additional  facts  and  incidents,  illustrative 
of  the  work  of  God  at  Annshaw,  I  extract  from 
Brother  Lamplough's  report,  published  in  the  Wes- 
leyan  Missionary  Notices,  for  October,  1866. 

"  One  very  pleasing  feature  in  this  good  work/' 
says  Brother  L.,  "  is  the  clearness  writh  which  nearly 
all  are  enabled  to  testify,  respecting  their  conversion 
to  God.  Almost  all  who  have  professed  to  find 
peace,  have  been  carefully  examined,  and  closely 
questioned,    by    Mr.   Sawtell,    or    myself,   Charles 


130  ANNSHAW. 

Pamla,  or  William  Shaw  Kama,  and  the  result  has 
been  most  satisfactory;  especially  as  regards  the 
children,  and  those  who,  until  recently,  were  living 
in  heathenism. 

"  The  effect  of  Mr.  Taylor's  visit  upon  the  Local 
Preachers  is  wonderful,  and  they  are  six  times  as  effi- 
cient as  they  were  before.  Charles  Palma,  Boyce 
Mama,  and  a  few  other  natives  have  been  used  as  the 
principal  instruments  in  this  work/' 

Illustrative  Incidents. — Brother  Lamplough 
continues  : — "  Generally  speaking,  penitents  were 
enabled  very  speedily  to  lay  hold  of  the  Saviour,  and 
rejoice  in  a  sense  of  forgiveness  ;  and  very  wonderful 
was  it  to  see  the  effect  when  some  of  these  entered 
into  liberty.  For  a  few  moments  the  face  appeared 
transfigured  with  light ;  and  the  smile  of  joy  which 
shone  forth  from  their  eyes  was  such  as  I  shall  never 
forget.  I  cannot  attempt  to  describe  such  cases; 
but  I  have  several  present  to  my  mind  whilst  I  write. 
One  man,  I  noticed,  came  forward  every  morning 
and  evening  for  some  days.  He  was  a  heathen,  and 
I  noticed  him  because  he  was  lame,  and  as  he  came 
forward  he  hopped  on  one  leg.  At  the  close  of  the 
meeting  he  generally  had  to  be  carried  out  by  three 
men,  being  too  much  exhausted  to  move.  The 
morning  he  found  peace,  he  was  led  to  the  seat 
reserved  for  the  new  converts,  where  he  sat  for  a  little 
time,  apparently  in  deep  thought ;  he  then  burst  out 
into  such  a  laugh  of  joy  and  surprise  as  I  shall  never 
forget;  and  he  kept  on  in  this  way  for  some  ten 


THE   OLD   MAN    GIVING    UP    HIS    YOUNG    WIFE.      131 

minutes,  as  though  perfectly  unconscious  of  all  out- 
ward things, — feasting  his  soul  with  the  wonderful 
love  of  Christ,  which  filled  him  with  surprise  and 

joy-" 

Charles  Pamla  gave  me  the  following  incident.  An 
old  heathen  who  lived  eight  miles  from  the  station, 
was  waked  up  by  songs  in  the  night,  sung  by  some 
of  his  converted  grandchildren,  returning  from  the 
meeting  where  they  had  found  Jesus.  The  old  man, 
hearing  the  wonderful  story  these  young  witnesses 
had  to  tell,  took  up  his  sticks,  and  hobbled  off  straight- 
way to  Annshaw,  arriving  about  the  break  of  day. 
Hearing  the  voice  of  praise  in  the  chapel  at  the  morn- 
ing prayer-meeting,  he  went  in  and  heard  the  prayers 
and  prophesyings  of  God's  people.  "  The  secrets  of 
his  heart  were  made  manifest,  and,  falling  down  on 
his  face,  he  worshipped  God/'  and  was  enabled  that 
morning  "  to  report  that  God  was  in  them  of  a 
truth,"  from  a  blessed  experience  of  salvation  in  his 
own  heart.  When  he  reported  himself  among  the 
young  converts  of  that  meeting,  he  asked  the  minister 
what  he  should  do  about  his  two  wives. 
"  You  will  have  to  give  one  of  them  up." 
"  Well/'  replied  the  old  man,  "  one  is  a  young 
woman,  and  I  love  her ;  the  other  is  an  old  woman, 
the  first  wife  of  my  youth.  She  is  old,  and  can't 
work  much,  but  she  is  my  true  wife,  and  she  has 
always  been  kind  to  me,  and  I  will  keep  her,  and  give 
up  my  young  wife.  But  I  am  not  angry  with  her, 
and  I  don't  know  hew  to  tell  her  to  go  away.     I  will 


132  ANNSIIAW. 

bring  them  both,  here  to-morrow,  and  let  you  explain 
it  to  them." 

"  Very  well,"  replied  the  missionary,  "  that 
will  do." 

So  the  next  day,  the  old  man  was  seen  in  the  dis- 
tance, hobbling  along  on  his  two  sticks,  close  after 
him  his  old  woman,  and  next,  in  single  file,  his  young 
woman  and  her  three  children.  It  was  a  painfully 
interesting,  and  yet  pleasing  sight. 

The  old  man  brought  his  two  wives  into  the 
chapel,  and  marched  straight  to  the  missionary. 
Brother  Lamplough  went  into  an  explanation  of  the 
whole  matter  to  the  astonished  women,  who,  it 
appears,  did  not  know  what  was  to  be  done.  When 
the  minister's  decision  was  announced,  the  old  woman 
cried  out : 

"  I  am  glad  of  that.  I  always  loved  my  dear  old 
man,  and  did  not  want  him  to  give  half  of  his  heart 
away  to  another  woman.  Oh,  I  am  so  glad  to  get 
him  back  to  me,  and  now  he  is  all  my  own  ! " 

The  younger  woman  stood  weeping,  and  all  natu- 
rally thought,  that  to  be  "thrown  away,"  as  the 
Kaffirs  would  term  it,  in  that  style,  was  an  occasion 
of  great  grief,  which  would  lead  to  an  unpleasant 
6cene ;  but  when  her  turn,  came  to  speak,  she  said, 
"  I  thank  God  for  this.  I  am  not  angry  with  the 
old  man,  but  1  have  been  living  in  sin,  and  now  I 
want  to  find  Jesus  Christ,  too,"  and,  as  she  wept  and 
commenced  tearing  off  and  throwing  away  her 
heathen  charms  and  trinkets,  she  said — "  What  is  to 


THE    DUMB    WITNESSING    FOR   JESUS.  133 

be  done  with  my  children  ?  May  I  take  them  with 
me  ?  I  will  go  home  to  my  people,  and  serve  Jesus 
Christ,  but  I  want  to  take  my  children  with  me/' 

The  old  man,  under  Kaffir  law,  could  have  held  the 
children,  but  he  promptly  said,  "  Yes,  take  the 
children,  and  teach  them  to  love  Jesus  Christ." 

Total  Abstinence. — "  Our  last  stroke  is  being 
levelled  against  Kaffir  beer,"  says  Brother  Lamp- 
lou<rh.  "  I  do  not  know  a  single  Leader  or  Local 
Preacher,  who  touches  beer  now  in  this  circuit. 
This  is  a  grand  thing,  and  the  result  of  five  years' 
hard  fighting." 

"Witnesses  for  Jesus. — "  About  twelve  days  after 
Mr.  Taylor's  visit,"  continues  Lamplough's  report, 
"  we  had  a  fellowship-meeting,  in  order  to  give  the 
new  converts  an  opportunity  of  testifying  of  the  grace 
of  God.  The  chapel  was  crowded ;  more  than  half 
the  congregation  being  composed  of  those  who  had 
just  found  peace.  About  fifty  spoke,  several  of  them 
were  very  old  people,  not  a  few  were  children ;  many 
had  just  left  heathenism,  and  two  were  deaf  and 
dumb  men,  who  could  not  speak,  but  pointed  to  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  and  laid  their  hands  upon 
their  breasts,  to  signify  that  the  great  God  who  made 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  had  come  into  their  hearts, 
and  then  they  smiled  in  a  peculiar  way,  to  intimate 
that  their  souls  rejoiced.  Who  will  say  that  these 
men  were  not  taught  of  the  Spirit,  in  a  way  which  we 
cannot  understand  ?  Only  less  wonderful  than  this 
was  the  testimony  of  children  not  more   than  ten 


134  ANNSHAW. 

or  twelve  years  of  age,  many  whom  had  heathen 
parents.  The  way  in  which  these  little  ones  (with 
only  a  sheep-skin  on)  testified  to  what  they  had 
experienced  of  the  saving  grace  of  God,  was  truly 
amazing." 

HOW   THE     HEATHEN     TRY   TO    EXPLAIN    IT. — "  The 

visit  of  Mr.  Taylor,"  says  Brother  Lamplough,  "  was 
so  short,  and  the  effects  so  wonderful,  that  some  of 
the  heathen  say  he  came  down  from  heaven.  Others 
say  that  he  came  to  destroy  the  country,  and  that  he 
brought  a  medicine  with  him,  which  he  has  left  at 
my  house,  and  which  I  give  to  the  Local  Preachers, 
and  it  makes  them  mad,  so  that  they  are  able  to  work 
wonders  among  the  people.  They  say  that  when  the 
people  come  to  Annshaw  Chapel,  they  are  invited  to 
come  forward,  and  that  as  soon  as  they  touch  the 
'  wood '  (communion-rail)  they  must  be  converted  ; 
for  I  have  some  blood  with  which  I  sprinkle  them, 
and  some  flour  which  I  scatter  upon  their  heads,  and 
then  we  blow  in  their  ears,  and  they  are  believers  ! " 
We  will  see  in  due  time  how  some  of  the  white 
people  in  Natal  try  to  explain  away  the  work  of  God. 
Persecutions. — "At  many  of  the  heathen  villages," 
reports  Brother  Lamplough,  "  the  people  will  not  go 
near  the  services,  for  fear  they  should  be  converted. 
When  a  woman  wants  to  repent,  the  husband  takes  a 
stick  and  beats  her  ;  and  some  of  the  children  of  the 
heathen  are  beaten,  and  not  allowed  to  come  to  class. 
Indeed,  there  is  much  persecution  going  on  in  many 
parts  of  the  circuit,  and  several  are  by  compulsion 


CHARLES   PA.MLA 


AMATOLA   BASIN.  135 

kept  away  from  the  services.  When  Charles  Pamla 
went  to  preach  at  the  Amatola  Basin,  about  eighty 
professed  to  find  peace.  The  heathen,  who  live  all 
round  the  chapel,  were  roused,  and  wanted  to  drive 
Charles  away;  and  had  he  not  been  well  known 
(being  a  nephew  of  the  Fingoe  Chief  Umhlambisa), 
he  would  certainly  have  been  beaten."  The  con- 
tinued increase  of  this  work  of  God  will  be  brought 
to  light,  by  illustrative  facts,  in  the  progress  of  my 
narrative. 


CHAPTER  X, 


FORT  BEAUFORT. 


Fort  Bkaufort,  "  situated  on  the  lower  part  of  the 
Kat  river,  was  first  established  as  a  military  post 
soon  after  the  Kaffir  war  of  1835/'  and  has  gra- 
dually developed  into  a  good  average  African 
town.  It  is  in  the  midst  of  a  good  sheep-farming ' 
country,  and  some  of  the  valleys  produce  good  crops 
of  maize  and  tolerably  fair  crops  of  wheat.  The 
district,  including  the  town,  contains  a  population 
of  13,048,  of  whom  2,648  are  whites.  The  Wes- 
leyan  Church  was  organized  there  in  1837,  and  a 
chapel  was  built  the  same  year,  which  was  a  few 
years  later  superseded  by  the  present  chapel,  which 
has  sittings  for  about  400  persons. 

My  home  was  at  the  house  of  the  Superintendent 
of  the  Circuit,  Rev.  John  Wilson,  a  man  of  an 
excellent  spirit,  and  an  earnest  minister,  who,  with 
his  truly  missionary  wife,  has  been  in  the  South 
African  work  for  many  years.  Two  of  their  daugh- 
ters who  had  long  been  seeking,  were  saved  during 
our  series  of  services.  I  was  agreeably  surprised  to 
meet  a  large  force  of  my  Graham's  Town  workers 


MEETING    WITH    GRAHAM'S    TOWN    FRIENDS.       137 

and  friends  who  had  come  forty-seven  miles  to  Port 
Beaufort  to  attend  our  services.  The  principal  ones 
were  my  Graham's  Town  host,  Mr.  Wm.  A.  Richards, 
his  good  wife,  and  four  children;  Mr.  J.  B.  Janion, 
an  earnest  worker  for  God,  and,  I  was  informed, 
a  superior  Local  Preacher  ;  Mr.  B.  B.  Atwell,  "  a 
chief  man"  in  Commemoration  Chapel,  who  extem- 
porised the  ventilators  there  by  knocking  out  a  pane 
of  glass  from  each  gallery-window,  no  one  presuming 
to  ask  "  What  doest  thou  ?  "  Also  Ben  Atwell,  son 
of  the  good  brother  last  named.  Brother  Ben  is 
the  organist  in  Commemoration  Chapel,  and  got 
his  soul  into  harmony  with  God  during  our  series 
there.  Mr.  D.  Penn,  who  drove  me  seventy  miles 
in  one  day  with  two  pair  of  his  own  horses,  to 
King  William's  Town ;  Dr.  Exton,  who  joined  the 
Wesleyan  Church  at  our  "  fellowship-meeting  "  in 
Graham's  Town,  and  will,  I  think,  make  a  very 
influential  and  useful  member  ;  Mrs.  Rev.  Thomas 
Guard  too  was  among  them ;  3he,  with  Sister  Rich- 
ards and  their  children,  had  come  in  an  ox- wagon, 
making  a  journey  of  three  days,  and  enjoyed  the 
romance  of  the  trip  greatly.  Besides  those  were  Messrs. 
Wm.  Roberts,  C.  H.  Webb,  R.  Frumble,  J.  Green, 
the  barber,  W.  Oates,  C.  Gowie,  D.  Gowie,  W. 
Barnes,  his  wife,  and  Miss  Cheney,  all  earnest  seek- 
ers after  wandering  souls.  Last  of  all  was,  to  me, 
a  stranger  of  the  Graham's  Town  party,  a  prodigal 
son  of  a  truly  Christian  widowed  mother,  who  after- 
wards became  my  friend  and  travelling  companion, 


138  FORT    BEAUFOllT. 

Mr.  James  Roberts.  I  was  told  that  when  this 
little  army  arrived,  the  Fort  Beaufort  people  were 
greatly  astonished,  not  knowing  of  anything  like 
the  "Derby  races"  to  attract  such  a  multitude, 
and  some  would  hardly  believe  that  they  had 
left  their  business,  and  travelled  so  far,  to  be  on 
expense  at  the  hotels  for  days,  purely  for  spiritual 
purposes,  getting  and  doing  good  at  our  services. 
At  one  of  the  hotels  our  friends  had  prayers,  morn- 
ing and  evening,  in  one  of  their  private  sitting-rooms, 
and  were  a  little  surprised  when  the  hotel-keeper 
and  his  wife  asked  to  be  allowed  to  be  with  them  in 
their  worship,  and  still  more  surprised  and  delighted 
afterwards,  to  find  them  among  the  seekers  of 
salvation.  They  did  not  get  into  liberty  that  week, 
but  the  landlord  with  a  few  brethren  who  were  con- 
verted that  week,  attended  my  meetings  a  few  weeks 
afterwards  in  Queen's  Town,  distant  about  eighty 
miles,  and  there  the  hotel-keeper  received  Jesus.  He 
gave  up  his  "Canteen,"  took  down  his  sign,  and 
opened  a  temperance  hotel,  to  furnish  good  accom- 
modation, without  the  bad  associations  and  bad  effects 
of  a  "bar."  On  Sabbath  morning,  the  17th  of  June, 
we  commenced  our  services  at  Fort  Beaufort.  The 
place  was  too  much  crowded  to  be  comfortable,  but 
there  was  a  gracious  manifestation  of  the  Spirit  to 
the  hearts  of  believers.  As  we  were  returning 
from  chapel  Dr.  Exton  said,  "  I  went  into  chapel 
this  morning  a  moderate  drinker,  but  came  out  & 
teetotaller."     His  decision  on  that  subject  was  occa- 


THE  WORKERS  AND  THE  WORK.       139 

sioned  by  some  illustrative  narrative  bearing  on 
another  subject,  and  but  incidentally  reflected  on 
drinking  customs.  At  three  p.m.  we  had  a  good  time 
in  preaching  to  the  children.  In  the  evening  after 
preaching,  we  invited  persons  awakened  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  who  wanted  to  know  "  What  they  must 
do  to  be  saved/'  to  come  forward  that  we  might 
tell  them.  The  altar-rails  were  soon  crowded,  and  a 
good  number  were  saved  that  night.  I  found  there 
were  a  few  good  workers  belonging  to  the  Fort 
Beaufort  society.  We  had  a  very  good  brother  too 
from  Eland's  Post,  a  remote  point  on  the  circuit, 
and  the  Graham's  Town  friends  were  fully  equipped 
for  the  war. 

On  Monday,  at  eleven  a.m.,  I  preached  to  believers, 
and  we  had  a  gracious  season.  Oa  Monday  night 
the  work  went  on  gloriously.  A  number  of  leading 
citizens,  under  the  smitings  of  the  Spirit,  were  down 
among  the  seekers.  On  Tuesday,  at  eleven  a.m.,  I 
preached  at  Heald  Town,  seven  miles  distant.  On 
Tuesday  night  I  preached  again  at  Fort  Beaufort. 
Nearly  all  our  early  seekers  were  now  rejoicing  in 
the  pardoning  love  of  God;  but  the  altar  was  as 
greatly  crowded  as  ever  with  new  seekers.  On 
Wednesday,  at  eleven  a.m.,  preached  to  the  Church 
on  Christian  Perfection,  with  blessed  spiritual  re- 
sults in  the  experience  of  believers,  and  on  Wed- 
nesday night  closed  our  special  series  of  preaching 
services  at  Fort  Beaufort.  After  preaching  we  had 
a  great  breaking-down  among  the  sinners,  and  some 


140  FORT    BEAUFORT. 

very  striking  cases  of  conversion  to  God.  During 
our  brief  service,  sixty-five  whites  professed  to  find 
peace  with  God.  Some  of  them  give  promise  of  great 
usefulness  to  the  Church. 

Many  interesting  examples  might  be  given ;  but 
one  or  two  illustrative  cases  may  suffice. 

Mr.    E ,    a  very  large   man,    who   had   been 

forward  several  times  as  a  seeker,  exclaimed,  with 
tearful  eyes,  as  he  entered  into  liberty,  "  Talk 
about  sacrificing  all  for  Christ !  What  had  I  to  sacri- 
fice but  my  sins,  and  all  my  wicked  abominations. 
A  sacrifice,  indeed  ?  Why,  it's  a  glorious  riddance ! 
And  in  return  I  have  received  in  Christ  the  priceless 
gift  of  eternal  life.     Glory  to  God  \" 

Mrs.  D had  heard  a  great  deal  said  against 

that  "  Foreign  preacher,"  and  she  never  would  dis- 
grace herself  by  going  to  hear  such  a  man. 

A  friend  said  in  reply,  "  Well,  now,  Mrs.  D.,  you 
see  that  the  most  respectable  people  do  go  to  hear 
him,  and  would  not  miss  a  subsequent  opportunity, 
on  any  account ;  and  for  you  to  form  such  an  un- 
favourable, and  unjust  judgment  of  a  servant  of 
God,  without  even  hearing  him  for  yourself,  is  alike 
discreditable  to  your  intelligence  and  your  honesty. 
Now,  Mrs.  D.,  go  and  hear  him  to-night,  and  then 
we  will  talk  about  the  preacher  to-morrow."  Sha 
consented,  and  that  night  the  "  Spirit's  two-edged 
sword  "  pierced  her  heart,  and  she  wept  aloud,  and 
begged   us  to  pray  for  her.      She  soon    afterwards 


/AMES    ROBERTS.  141 

found  her  Saviour,  and  became  a  happy  intelligent 
witness  for  Christ. 

Mr.  James  Roberts  was  absent  from  Graham's 
Town  during  my  series  of  meetings  there ;  but  on 
his  return,  found  so  many  of  his  friends  and  kindred 
converted  to  God,  that  he  at  once  felt  a  desire  to 
learn  something  more  definitely  about  "this  way," 
and  hence  came  with  the  Graham's  Town  company 
to  attend  my  meeting  at  Fort  Beaufort.  After  a  day 
or  two  of  deep  awakening,  without  much  emotion, 
on  his  return  from  the  Tuesday  meeting  in  Heald 
Town,  he  turned  aside  in  the  woods  alone  to  meditate 
and  pray.  He  had  been  secretly  very  sceptical, 
and  though  blest  with  one  of  the  best  mothers  to  be 
found  in  any  land,  he  was  a  great  prodigal ;  but  he 
had  read  Mr.  Hamilton's  "  Metapkyics,"  and  by  the 
study  of  the  constitution  of  his  own  mind ;  he  was 
profoundly  impressed  with  a  kind  of  realizing  belief 
in  the  existence,  and  power,  and  all  pervading  pre- 
sence of  his  Maker.  From  that  step,  he  logically 
worked  out  the  fact,  as  a  matter  of  iaith  in  his 
mind,  that  such  a  Creator  would  certainly  reveal 
His  will  to  His  creatures,  and  he  accepted  the  Holy 
Scriptures  as  the  revelation,  meeting  the  demands 
of  the  case.  Its  delineations  of  human  guilt, 
pollution,  bondage,  and  condemnation,  he  felt  to  be 
true  in  his  own  experience.  The  Almighty  Saviour 
revealed,  according  to  God's  descriptions  of  Him,  and 
God's  promises  through  Him,  was  exactly  suited  to 


142  FOHT   BEAUFORT. 

the  demands  of  his  soul.  When  he  fully  realized 
these  facts,  as  he  was  walking  alone  in  the  wild 
wood,  he  stopped,  took  off  his  hat,  and  said,  "  O, 
thou  God,  who  made  me,  and  redeemed  me  with  the 
blood  of  Christ,  I  surrender  my  wicked  soul  to  Thee, 
and  I  now  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  my  Saviour.  If 
there  is  any  mistake  about  this  thing,  it  must  be  in 
Thy  revelation  concerning  Him  ;  but  Thy  statements 
are  very  clear,  they  are  Thine  own  words,  and  I  can't 
doubt  them,  and  I  do  accept  Christ  as  my  Saviour, 
and  entrust  my  whole  soul  to  Him.  I  don't  believe 
there  can  be  any  mistake  or  failure  in  the  matter." 

Soon  after  Brother  Janion  met  him,  and  said, — 

"Well,  Brother  Roberts,  have  you  accepted 
Christ?" 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Janion,  I  have." 

"  Have  you  found  peace  in  Him  ?  " 

"No,  I  have  experienced  no  change  in  my  feel- 
ings ;  but  I  have  taken  Christ  as  my  Saviour,  and 
shall  trust  Him  till  I  die  to  save  me  from  all  my  sins." 

He  maintained  his  position  unwaveringly  for  three 
days,  clinging  to  Jesus  by  simple  faith,  without 
much  emotion,  and  without  any  relief,  beyond  the 
power  to  hold  on,  till  the  third  night ;  then,  while  I 
was  delivering  a  lecture  on  St.  Paul  and  Ms  Times,  the 
witnessing  and  renewing  power  of  the  Spirit  came 
upon  him  like  a  flood  of  light  and  glory,  and  his 
heart  was  filled  with  "  unspeakable  joy." 

He  became  a  man  of  Providence  in  connection 
with  my  mission  among  the  Kaffirs.     While  I  was 


MR.    ALFRED    WHITE.  143 

•working  at  Graham's  Town,  Mr.  Alfred  White,  one 
of  the  oldest  pioneers  in  the  country,  who  lives  on 
the  "  TJnizinivubu  River,"  in  Kaffraria,  nearly  four 
hundred  miles  east  of  Graham's  Town,  persuaded  me 
to  go  overland,  through  Kaffraria  to  Natal,  instead 
of  by  sea,  as  I  had  contemplated.  I  did  not  then 
hope  to  be  able  to  do  much  good,  but  I  wanted  to  see 
the  practical  working  of  the  Mission  Stations  among 
the  heathen  in  their  own  country,  and  learn  what 
I  could. 

I  knew  not  how  I  should  go,  but  Mr.  White  said 
he  would  meet  me  thirty  miles  west  of  the  "  Umzim- 
vubu,"  and  convey  me  hence  across  the  river,  and 
give  me  any  assistance  I  might  need,  in  getting  on 
thence  to  Natal.  He  also  made  me  a  plan  of  travel, 
embracing  the  whole  of  the  Wesleyan  Missions  in 
Kaffraria.  A  few  days  later  we  learned  that  Dumasi, 
Chief  of  the  western  tribe  of  the  Amapondo,  and 
Umhlonhlo,  Chief  of  the  Amapondumsi,  were  at  war, 
and  the  Shawbury  Station  was  just  in  the  midst  of 
it,  and  that  the  missionary  and  his  family  were  in 
great  jeopardy  ;  we  learned  further  that  the  eastern 
half  of  the  Amapondo  nation,  under  Chief  Faku, 
were  at  war  with  the  Amabacas,  and  that  "  Osborn  " 
Mission  Station,  under  the  superintendence  of  Rev. 
C.  White,  brother  to  my  friend  Alfred,  was  the 
scene  of  great  slaughter.  So  Mr.  White  said  I 
could  not  travel  through  that  district,  and  planned 
for  me  a  more  southerly  route,  leaving  out  the  two 
troubled  stations,    I  wrote  to  Cape  Town  to  have  my 


Ill  FORT    BEAUFORT. 

son,  Stuart,  who  was  recovering  from  his  Australian 
illness,  to  join  me,  and  bear  me  company,  I  then 
expected  to  have  to  buy  horses,  and  go  on  the  inde- 
pendent line. 

My  friend,  Rev.  John  Richards,  of  Port  Eliza- 
beth, was  not  very  well  pleased  with  the  change  in 
my  plan,  and  would  fain  have  persuaded  me  to  give 
it  up.  He  exhibited  an  array  of  all  the  difficulties 
as  follows  : — "  We  shall  be  intensely  disappointed  in 
your  not  returning  here  to  preach  our  missionary 
sermons,  and  hold  another  series  of  services,  which 
we  believe  God  would  own  and  bless  ;  but  apart  from 
this,  I  think  you  have  not  been  wisely  advised. 
Much  precious  time  and  labour  will  be  comparatively 
wasted  by  a  journey  through  Kaffirland  to  Natal. 
To  me  it  appears  that  your  calling  is  especially  to 
the  English-speaking  portion  of  the  population  of 
this  country ;  the  natives  will  be  benefited  indirectly. 
How  are  you  going  to  travel  through  Kaffirland  to 
Natal  ?  How  long  will  it  take  you  ?  You  cannot 
remain  on  each  station  for  a  series  of  services ;  if  so, 
poor  Mrs.  Taylor  may  hope  to  see  you  sometime,  if 
the  Lord  will.  Then  how  are  you  going  to  ford  the 
rivers  ?  How  is  your  baggage  to  be  conveyed  ?  You 
will  have  difficulties  before  you,  which  will  be  new  to 
you ;  possibly,  you  may  surmount  them  if  time 
enough  be  allowed  you.  Think,  my  brother,  think. 
I  believe  you  would  act  most  wisely  in  coming  back 
here,  after  the  tour  I  have  marked  out  for  you ;  then, 
after  helping  us,  go  by  sea  to  Natal/'     I  felt  a  great 


FRUITS   OP   THE    REVIVAL.  145 

desire  to  accommodate  Brother  Richards,  for  he  had 
been  very  kind  to  me ;  but  I  had  not  promised  to 
return,  and  now  firmly  believed  it  would  be  more  for 
the  glory  of  God  to  go  through  Kaffraria,  and  the 
difficulties  were  nothing  to  me,  since  others  had  so 
often  overcome  them,  on  errands  of  much  less  im- 
portance. 

When  I  was  at  Annshaw,  I  made  arrangements 
with  Brother  Lamplough,  to  have  Charles  Pamla  go 
with  me  through  Kaffirland  as  my  interpreter. 
At  Fort  Beaufort,  a  week  later,  the  Lord  pro- 
vided me  a  "  dragoman,"  in  the  person  of  my  friend 
Mr.  James  Roberts,  who  hearing  of  my  contemplated 
trip,  came  the  next  day  after  his  conversion  to  God, 
and  asked  me  to  allow  him  the  pleasure  of  furnishing 
conveyance  and  horses,  and  of  driving  me  to  Natal. 
Under  the  circumstances  I  could  not  deny  him 
"  the  pleasure,"  but  thankfully  accepted  his  kind 
offer. 

The  Lord  not  only  selected  me  a  man  from  the 
fruits  of  the  Fort  Beaufort  revival  for  my  Elaffrarian 
tour,  but  raised  up  others  to  remain  in  the  "  Fort " 
for  home  defence,  and  the  aggressive  work  of  the 
Church.  One  of  the  converts  has  become  a  useful 
Class-leader  and  Exhorter  ;  another,  who  is  a  Member 
of  Parliament,  has  become  a  Local  Preacher ;  and 
the  work  has  gone  on,  I  learn  from  Brother  Wilson, 
and  from  other  sources,  very  prosperously  in  Fort 
Beaufort,  Alice,  and  other  parts  of  the  circuit. 
But    while    many   were    saved,    some,   by   resist- 

L 


14G  FORT    BEAUFORT. 

ance  of  the  Spirit's  call,  we  fear  have  perished.  I 
remember  well  one  man  who  became  so  interested  in 
our  meetings  at  Fort  Beaufort,  that  he  accompanied 
us  to  Ileald  Town,  and  witnessed  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  displays  of  the  saving  power  of  the 
Spirit  I  ever  saw,  and  was  greatly  awakened,  and 
almost  persuaded  to  be  a  Christian,  but,  so  far  as 
we  could  learn,  refused  to  accept  Christ.  A  short 
time  afterwards  he  was  found  dead  in  his  room. 
Of  course  no  one  knew  the  poor  fellow's  heart ; 
but  had  he  accepted  Christ,  as  many  of  his 
neighbours  did,  and  "  witnessed  a  good  confession," 
it  would  have  been  a  sure  thing  for  himself,  and 
a  great  comfort  to  surviving  friends. 

An  extract  from  a  letter  written  me  by  Rev.  Bro- 
ther Wilson,  dated  Nov.  14th,  1866,  may  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  further  progress  of  the  work  of  God  in 
Fort  Beaufort :  "  The  work  in  this  circuit  has  been 
great  and  glorious.  At  our  last  Quarterly  Meeting 
we  had  a  net  increase  of  thirty-eight  members  and 
sixty  on  trial.  Besides  there  has  been  a  very 
delightful  work  among  the  natives  here,  and  many 
of  them  have  been  enabled  to  rejoice  in  Christ  their 
Saviour.  The  testimony  of  some  is  exceedingly 
pleasing.  A  case  or  two  was  rather  striking  :  Two 
native  girls,  who  were  servants  in  the  same  family, 
were  convinced  of  sin  ;  one  of  them  came  to  my 
house  to  receive  instruction  ;  I  talked  to  her  and 
prayed  with  her,  but  she  got  no  rest  for  her  soul.  I 
left  her,  and  Mrs.  Wilson  went  to  her,  and  while 


THE   NATIVE    GIRL   AND   HER   SHAWL.  147 

she  was  praying  with  her  the  poor  girl  found  Jesus. 
Her  joy  was  unspeakably  great.  She  fell  on  her 
knees  and  kissed  Mrs.  Wilson's  feet,  and  then 
crawled  to  the  young  woman  who  came  with  her 
and  kissed  her  feet,  and  when  I  came  she  fell  down 
and  kissed  mine,  and  so  overwhelmed  with  rapturous 
joy  and  so  humble,  that  she  knew  not  how  to  express 
it.  Her  fellow  native  servant  was  in  great  distress, 
but  did  not  get  relief  so  quickly,  I  found  her  in  an 
agony  at  the  penitent-rail,  and  in  her  bitter  con- 
fession of  sin,  she  said,  '  That  shawl  I  bought  at 
Mullett's — that  shawl !  that  shawl  I ' 

"  '  What  about  it  ? '  I  inquired. 

"  '  0,  Sir,  part  of  the  money  for  that  shawl  was 
stolen ;  I  stole  one  and  threepence  of  it  from  my 
mistress.  I'll  pay  my  mistress,  I'll  pay  her  all,  I'll 
pay  her  double ! '  Her  mistress  was  an  uncon- 
verted woman,  would  receive  no  money,  but  forgave 
her  freely.  Then  the  poor  girl  took  the  shawl, 
tore  it  to  shreds  and  burnt  it.  She  had  a  hard 
struggle,  but  at  last  the  dark  cloud  of  guilt  and 
sin  rolled  away,  and  she  was  made  happy  in  Jesus 
her  Saviour. 

"  We  have  formed  two  extra  classes  here  among  the 
English,  and  two  for  the  natives.  I  have  made 
Brother  Shaw"  (a  merchant  who  was  saved  at  our 
series)  "an  Exhorter  and  Leader,  and  he  is  a  very 
active,  zealous  man,  quite  disposed  for  liberal  things. 
His  wife  and  mother  are  now  members  of  our  Church. 
Mr.  Ayliff,  who  was  saved  just  after  you  left,  is  now 


148  FORT   BEAUFORT. 

on  the  Local  Preacher's  plan.  Mr-  Elliott  is  going 
on  well,  and  prays  in  the  prayer-meetings.  His 
place  is  now  a  Temperance  Hotel.  We  have  a  fresh 
class  in  Alice,  and  it  is  a  very  interesting  one. 
Mr.  Harper  is  the  Leader.  Truly  we  have  great 
cause  of  thankfulness  to  God  for  the  rich  blessings 
He  hath  bestowed  upon  us  here  A  glorious  visita- 
tion has  come  to  this  land." 


CHAPTER  XI. 


BEALD   TOWN. 


IIealdTown,  called  in  honour  of  James  Heald,  Esq., 
Treasurer  of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  is  a 
large  Fingoe  settlement  and  Mission  Station,  six 
nnles  distant  from  Kort  Beaufort.  This  is  the  site  of 
the  largest  Industrial  School  established  under  the 
patronage  of  Sip  Goorge  Grey.  The  accompanying 
cut,  from  a  photograph  taken  on  the  spot,  will 
represent,  on  a  small  scale,  the  School  buildings  and 
Mission  Chapel.  "The  principal  building  is  two 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  length,  and  fifty  in 
width ;  there  are  also  two  wings  extending  to  the 
rear,  each  ninety  feet  in  length.  It  is  built  of  brick, 
on  a  stone  foundation,  the  roof  is  of  slate  from 
Wales.  The  floor  of  the  verandah,  which  extends 
along  the  whole  front  of  the  building,  is  several  feet 
above  the  ground.  The  internal  arrangements  afford 
spacious  apartments  for  the  governor,  chaplain,  and 
their  families,  with  large  and  airy  dormitories, 
school,  and  work-rooms,  refectory,  kitchens,  &c,  for 
the  accommodation  of  a  large  number  of  boys  and 
girls    who    were   boarded,   clothed,    educated,   and 


150  HEALD   TOWN. 

trained  to  various  industrial  pursuits."  The  exact 
statistics  of  the  cost  of  these  buildings,  the  annual 
appropriations,  and  the  number  of  pupils  trained  in 
this  establishment,  I  have  not  been  able  to  get ;  but 
the  following  figures,  furnished  me  by  Iiev.  William 
Sargent,  Wesleyau  Missionaiy,  in  charge  of  it  when 
I  was  there,  will  furnish  the  facts  with  sufficient 
approximate  correctness  for  our  purpose.  The  cost 
of  the  buildings,  paid  by  the  Government,  through 
Sir  George  Grey,  was  about  £7,000.  The  Government 
appropriation,  which  was  subsidized  by  the  Wesley  an 
Society,  was  about  £1,000  per  annum  for  about  nine 
years.  While  this  appropriation  was  continued, 
the  school,  under  the  administration  of  the  me- 
morable missionary,  Rev.  John  AylifF,  contained 
about  eighty  boarded  scholars,  and  an  addition 
of  nearly  two  hundred  day-scholars,  making  an 
aggregate  of  nearly  three  hundred,  and  was  going 
on  prosperously,  but  when  Sir  George  Grey  was 
removed  to  New  Zealand,  about  three  years  ago, 
the  Government  appropriation  was  partially  with- 
drawn from  that  and  kindred  institutions,  and 
between  the  removal  of  their  liberal  patron  by  the 
Government,  and  of  their  devoted  missionary  by 
death,  the  Heald  Town  institution  came  to  grief.  The 
boarding  and  industrial  departments,  from  a  want 
of  funds  were  abandoned. 

A  day-school  has  been  kept  up  with  success.  It 
contained,  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  two  hundred  day- 
Bcholars,  conducted  by  Mr.  T.  Templer,  head  teacher. 


MUNIFICENCE    OF   JAMES    HEALD,    ESQ.  151 

a  fine  spirited  brother,  and  I  believe  a  successful 
educator,  assisted  by  Siko  Radas,  a  young  native 
teacher.  They  have  also  three  schools  taught  by 
native  teachers  at  three  different  "  out-stations " 
connected  with  this  mission  establishment.  The 
whole  cost  of  these  schools  at  the  present  time  is 
£322  per  annum,  of  which  the  Government  pavs 
£252 ;  and  the  Society  £70.  Some  thousands  of 
natives  have  here,  from  first  to  last,  been  taught,  not 
only  to  read  their  own  language,  but  the  elements 
of  an  English  education. 

Rev.  Wm.  Impey,  during  his  recent  visit  to  Eng- 
land, appealed  strongly  to  the  Missionary  Committee, 
and  not  in  vain,  to  authorize  the  establishment 
of  a  High  School,  and  Theological  Institution  at 
Heald  Town.  James  Heald,  Esq.,  gave  five  hun- 
dred pounds  towards  the  enterprise,  and  Mr. 
Impey's  success  was  such  that  the  District  Meet- 
ing in  Graham's  Town,  last  January,  resolved 
to  carry  it  into  effect.  The  following  is  a  statement 
of  their  action,  furnished  to  me  by  Eev.  Wm.  Sar- 
gent, in  a  recent  letter,  as  follows  : — "  Our  District 
Meeting  decided  to  form  a  training  institution  at 
Heald  Town  to  include  two  or  three  classes  of 
agents. 

"1.  Men  for  the  full  work  of  the  ministry,  and 
pastorate. 

"  2.  Native  evangelists,  who  shall  have  no  fixed 
pastorate,  but  be  employed  in  going  from  place  to 
place  preaching  the  Gospel. 


152  HEALD  TOWN. 

"  3.  Young  men  as  schoolmasters  for  the  nativa 
schools. 

"  It  was  also  agreed  to  move  the  press  from  Mount 
Coke  to  Heald  Town.  Mr.  Appleyard  goes  to 
Heald  Town  in  charge  of  the  press.  Mr.  Lam- 
plough  was  appointed  to  superintend  the  institution, 
and  take  charge  of  the  native  agents ;  a  better  supply- 
could  not  been  have  got  in  the  district.  Bro.  Lam- 
plough  possesses  peculiar  abilities  for  such  a  work, 
his  whole  soul  is  in  it." 

I  firmly  believe  myself  that  Bro.  Lamplough  is 
the  man  for  that  responsible  post,  for  he  will  teach 
them  how  to  win  souls  to  Christ,  and  administer 
good  discipline  in  the  Church  of  God. 

The  Lord,  in  mercy,  help  him,  and  make  of  him  an 
Elijah,  and  make  his  "school  of  the  prophets"  an 
hundred-fold  more  effective  than  that  of  Bethel  or 
Mount  Carmel ! 

The  Wesleyan  chapel  at  Heald  Town,  which  will 
Beat  about  eight  hundred  natives,  is  a  cruciform  in 
shape,  the  transverse  portion  of  which,  with  a  front 
vestibule,  is  seen  in  the  accompanying  engraving. 

Rev.  "Win.  Sargent,  the  missionary  at  the  time  of 
my  visit,  was  brought  up  in  the  colony,  and  having 
been  in  the  mission-work  for  many  years,  is  quite  at 
home  in  the  native  language,  manners,  and  customs  ; 
he  is  a  true  friend  to  the  natives,  and  an  earnest 
missionary.  He  removed  his  whole  family  to  Fort 
Beaufort,  so  that  they  all  might  enjoy  the  benefit 
of   our  week  of    special  services    there.     He   had 


THE    REV.    WILLIAM    SARGENT.  153 

written  me  requesting  a  visit  to  his  natives  in  Heald 
Town,  but  not  having  the  natives  in  my  plan  of  ap- 
pointments, and  having  engaged  to  labour  with  the 
whites  for  weeks  a-head,  I  could  not  promise,  but  at 
our  first  interview  I  arranged  to  give  them  a  week-day 
service.  So  on  Tuesday  the  19th  of  June,  Brother 
Sargent  took  me  up  with  his  cart  and  pair,  and  set  off 
for  Heald  Town.  As  we  pass  the  lines  of  Fort  Beaufort 
we  at  once  see  the  white  mission  buildings  before  de- 
scribed, six  miles  distant.  It  is  a  beautiful  sight 
through  a  narrow  valley,  bounded  by  high  hills  on 
each  side,  rising  to  the  altitude  of  respectable  moun- 
tains, but  the  town  itself,  which,  besides  the  school 
buildings  and  chapel,  is  composed  almost  entirely  of 
native  huts,  is  perched  above  the  head  of  this 
beautiful  vale  on  the  plateau  of  a  transverse  range 
of  little  mountains.  The  scattering  huts,  seen  in  the 
cut,  represent  but  a  small  part  of  the  native  town 
the  body  of  which  is  hid  from  view  by  an  intei 
vening  hill.  In  our  little  journey,  we  pass  over  a 
broad  undulating  valley,  rich  and  grassy.  To  our 
left  are  several  native  "kraals,"  surrounded  by 
fields  of  maize,  pumpkins,  and  Kaffir-corn.  As- 
cending the  narrow  vale,  we  cross  many  times  a  bold 
mill-stream,  the  banks  of  which  are  lined  with 
wild  olives,  willows,  and  a  great  variety  of  shrub- 
bery and  vines,  forming  in  some  places  a  dense 
jungle,  which  furnish  a  ^rand  retreat  for  the 
monkeys.  Half-a-dozen  ol  them  made  a  stand  in 
the  road  before  us  long  enough  to  inquire   "  who 


154  HEALD   TOWN. 

are  you,  and  where  are  you  going  ?  "  and  then  scam- 
pered off  into  their  native  wilds. 

The  mountains  to  our  left  are  partly  cultivated  by 
the  Fingoes,  and  we  see  some  fine  herds  of  their 
cattle.  The  mountains  to  our  right  are  rugged,  but 
beautified  by  a  thick  undergrowth  of  the  wild  African 
aloes  just  coming  into  bloom,  with  stately  sentinels 
of  the  euphorbia-tree.  We  have  a  long,  rocky  steep 
ascent  from  this  valley  to  the  high  land  of  the  town  ; 
the  surrounding  scenery,  with  the  high  cliffs  at  the 
head  of  the  valley,  just  below  the  town,  is  not  only 
beautiful,  but  grand.  When  we  arrived,  a  little 
before  the  hour  appointed,  the  chapel,  with  sittings 
for  about  800,  was  packed  with  about  1,000  natives 
and  twenty  whites. 

The  head  teacher,  Mr.  T.  Templer  met  us,  and  said, 
"  We  have  Barnabas  here,  from  Graham's  Town,  he 
is  a  splendid  interpreter,  and  we'll  get  him  to  inter- 
pret. He  says  he  would  rather  not,  as  he's  here  on 
business,  in  his  working  clothes  ;  but  I'm  sure  he'll 
consent  if  we  press  it." 

"  Give  me  anybody  else,"  I  replied.  "  I  tried 
him  in  Graham's  Town,  and  he  got  his  voice  up  an 
octave  too  high  at  the  start,  and  sang  out  the  whole 
sermon  in  two  or  three  monotonous  tones  that 
did  not  suit  me  at  all.  He  is  a  good  fellow, 
and  we  must  not  hurt  his  feelings,  but  if  you 
are  not  committed  to  him,  and  can  give  me  any 
other  Kaffir  who  can  talk  English,  don't  engage 
Barnabas/' 


61 KO   RAD  AS.  155 

*'  "We  are  not  committed  to  him,  but  consider  him 
the  best  we  can  get.  We  have  a  Kaffir  boy,  my  as- 
sistant teacher,  who  understands  English,  but  he  is 
not  a  professional  interpreter/' 

"  He's  my  boy ;  send  him  to  me  quickly,  as  our 
time  is  nearly  up,  and  the  people  are  waiting." 

Brother  Sargent  immediately  sent  for  him,  and 
brought  him  into  a  private  room  in  the  "  Institu- 
tion," a  real  black  boy,  about  twenty  years  old,  five 
feet  six  inches  in  height,  prominent  forehead,  good 
eye,  pleasant  countenance,  a  quiet,  unobtrusive 
youth,  a  good  singer,  can  write  music,  and  play  on 
the  harmonium,  but  rather  a  feeble  voice  for  address- 
ing a  large  assembly — Siko  Radas. 

Brother  Sargent  said  he  had  to  celebrate  a  mar- 
riage, either  before  or  after  preaching.  We  at  once 
arranged  that  Brother  Sargent  should  open  the  ser- 
vice in  the  usual  way,  and  attend  to  the  marriage, 
and  allow  me  that  time  for  drilling  my  young  inter- 
preter. 

I  preached  my  sermon  to  Siko,  and  gave  him  a 
lecture  on  naturalness.  We  entered  the  church 
before  the  marriage  ceremony  was  over.  The  bridal 
party  were  all  black,  but  well  dressed,  and  presented 
a  very  genteel  appearance,  and  signed  their  names  to 
the  marriage  records  with  self-possession  and  neat- 
ness of  execution.  The  bride  was  covered  from  head 
to  foot  with  a  fine  white  veil. 

The  bridal  party  sat  in  the  front  form,  just  before 
us.     I   did  not  occupy  the  little  pulpit,  but  stood 


150  HEALD   TOWN. 

beside  my  interpreter  in  the  altar.  Siko  put  my 
sentences  into  Kaffir  very  rapidly,  but  distinctly  ; 
and,  as  I  learned,  correctly.  There  was  evidently 
an  extraordinary  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  resting 
on  the  audience  during  the  preaching,  but  silence 
reigned,  except  the  slight  murmur  of  suppressed 
sobbing  and  tears.  At  the  close  of  the  preaching 
we  dismissed  the  assembly,  giving  all  who  wished  an 
opportunity  to  retire.  The  bridal  party  and  a  few 
others  left. 

Before  we  proceeded  further  with  the  prayer- 
meeting,  I  explained  in  Gospel  simplicity,  the  way 
of  salvation  by  faith,  so  that  the  seekers  might  in- 
telligently come  to  Christ  without  further  personal 
instruction.  We  then  invited  the  seekers  to  come 
forward  and  occupy  the  forms  from  the  front,  as  far 
back  as  might  be  necessary.  They  rushed  forward 
with  that  violence  which  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
suffereth,  and  many  of  "  the  violent  took  it  by  force  " 
that  day.  At  least  three  hundred  seekers  were 
down  on  their  knees  within  a  few  minutes.  They 
were  all  praying  audibly,  the  floor  was  wet  with 
tears,  yet  none  seemed  to  be  screaming  louder 
than  his  neighbours.  Brother  Sargent  seemed,  for 
a  few  moments,  fearful,  thinking  it  might  lead 
to  confusion,  but  I  reminded  him  of  the  unde- 
niable evidences,  that  God  the  Holy  Spirit  was 
moving  in  the  matter,  and  however  much  of 
human  dross  and  infirmity  might  be  mixed  into  such 
a  mass  of  superstition  and  sin,  the  people  had  been 


THE    WITNESS   OF    THE    HOLY    SPIRIT.  157 

Well  instructed,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  was  fully  com- 
petent directly,  and  through  the  agencies  available, 
to  manage  the  business,  and  we  will  work  with  Him, 
but  let  us  not  interfere  with  His  work.  Brother 
Sargent  at  once  heartily  acquiesced  in  my  views, 
which  were  supported  so  thoroughly  by  Scripture 
teaching  and  precedent,  and  by  the  logic  of  facts 
before  our  eyes,  that  we  could  do  but  little  else  than 
"  stand  still  and  see  the  salvation  of  God."  We  had 
Brothers  Janion,  Attwell,  Webb,  Roberts,  and  other 
Graham's  Town  brethren  present.  They  seemed  a 
little  confused  at  the  first  shock,  for  my  meetings  at 
Graham's  Town,  as  in  every  other  place  among  the 
whites,  were  conducted  in  quietness ;  but  in  a  few 
minutes  they  were  re-assured  by  their  faith  in  God, 
and  the  power  of  His  Gospel,  and  entered  into  the 
work  with  their  characteristic  earnestness.  In  the 
recess  there  were  fourteen  whites  down  on  thnir 
knees,  as  seekers,  so  that  the  brethren  who  could  not 
speak  the  Kaffir,  found  ample  employment  among 
them. 

As  fast  as  the  seekers  entered  into  liberty,  they 
were  conducted  to  seats,  first  in  the  riffht  win 2"  of 
the  chapel,  and  then  in  the  left,  and  then  in  front, 
where  they  gave  their  testimony  to  their  minister, 
Rev.  Brother  Sargent,  who  wrote  down  their  names 
in  his  pastoral  book.  The  services  closed  at  4  p.m., 
having  extended  through  five  hours.  Some  of  us, 
however,  went  into  Brother  Templer's  house  about 
2  p.m.,  and  took  in  haste  an  excellent  lunch  vrhich 


158  HEALD   TOWN. 

good  Sister  Templer  had  prepared  for  us,  and  imme- 
diately returned  to  "  the  front/'  Seven  whites 
reported  themselves  among  the  converts,  having, 
during  the  service,  embraced  Christ,  and  found  sal- 
vation in  Him.  Six  of  them  were  one  whole  family, 
a  grandmother,  her  daughter,  son-in-law,  and  three 
children.  It  was  a  touching  scene  to  see  the  poor 
old  woman  in  the  centre,  and  her  children  and  grand- 
children embracing  her,  and  with  flowing  tears 
praising  God,  and  telling  her  how  happy  they  were 
in  the  love  of  Jesus. 

Of  the  natives,  Brother  Sargent  recorded  the 
names  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine,  who  professed 
to  find  peace  with  God  during  our  service  of  five 
hours.  We  then  hastened  back  to  Fort  Beaufort, 
where  I  preached,  and  had  a  glorious  work  among 
the  whites  that  night. 

On  Thursday  morning,  the  21st  of  June,  Brother 
Sargent,  in  company  with  Mrs.  Rev.  T.  Guard,  drove 
me  again  to  Heald  Town,  according  to  the  an- 
nouncement made  the  preceding  Tuesday.  When 
we  arrived,  Brother  Barnabas  came  to  me  and  said 
he  was  sorry  he  had  declined  to  interpret  on  Tuesday, 
but  if  I  would  consent  he  do  so  on  that  occasion.  He 
is  a  good  man,  and  remembering  that  I  had  not 
learned  to  preach  through  an  interpreter,  when  I 
tried  to  preach  through  him  in  Graham's  Town,  and 
that  the  fault  might  therefore  be  more  in  myself  than 
in  him,  I  replied,  "  I  am  well  satisfied  with  Siko, 
and  would  not  propose  a  change,  but  if  Siko  chooses 


BARNABAS,  THE  INTERPRETER.        159 

to  have  you  take  his  place,  I  have  no  objection/' 
Siko  readily  deferred  to  his  elder  brother,  and  Bar- 
nabas became  my  spokesman.  While  Brother  Sar- 
gent was  opening  the  service,  I  was  privately  preach- 
ing to  Barnabas.  He  is  a  tall  lean  brother,  not 
very  black,  well-acquainted  with  the  English  lan- 
guage, a  professional  interpreter  for  years,  and 
famous  for  his  exact  literal  rendering  of  a  discourse 
into  Kaffir.  He  is  now  well-advanced  in  years. 
Notwithstanding  his  long  experience  as  an  inter-' 
preter,  I  took  the  liberty  of  giving  him  a  good  talk 
on  naturalness,  and  in  return  learned  from  him  what 
I  could  in  so  short  a  time  about  some  of  the  customs 
and  peculiar  sins  of  the  Kaffirs. 

We  went  before  our  crowded  audience  fully 
equipped,  trusting  to  the  immediate  presence  and 
saving  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Barnabas  was 
ready,  natural,  and  effective.  The  praj'er-meeting 
was  conducted  as  on  the  first  day.  Among  the 
seekers  were  many  aged  persons.  The  awful  pre- 
sence and  melting  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  this 
occasion  surpassed  anything  I  had  ever  witnessed 
before.  I  tried  to  find  an  illustration  of  what  I  saw 
and  felt,  by  the  historic  fact,  that  in  creation's  morn, 
"  The  spirit  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters,"  and 
brought  order  out  of  chaos :  I  thought  of  what 
Ezekiel  saw,  and  thus  described,  after  giving  an 
account  of  his  vision  of  the  valley  of  dry  bones, 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  unto  these  bones  ;  Behold, 
1  will  cause  breath  to  enter  into  vou,   and  ye  shall 


1G\)  HEALD  TOWN. 

live  :  and  I  will  lay  sinews  upon  you,  and  wil1 
bring  up  flesh  upon  you,  and  cover  you  with  skin 
and  put  breath  in  you,  and  ye  shall  live  ;  and  ye 
shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord.  So  I  prophesied 
as  I  was  commanded  :  and  as  I  prophesied,  there 
was  a  noise,  and  behold  a  shaking,  and  the  bones 
came  together,  bone  to  his  bone.  And  when  I 
beheld,  lo,  the  sinews  and  the  flesh  came  up  upon 
them,  and  the  skin  covered  them  above :  but  there 
was  no  breath  in  them.  Then  said  he  unto  me, 
Prophesy  unto  the  wind,  prophesy,  son  of  man,  and 
say  to  the  wind,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  Come 
from  the  four  winds,  0  breath,  and  breathe  upon 
these  slain,  that  they  may  live.  So  I  prophesied  as 
he  commanded  me,  and  the  breath  came  into  them, 
and  they  lived,  and  stood  up  upon  their  feet,  an  ex- 
ceeding great  army."  I  thought  of  the  waiting 
disciples  in  that  upper  room  on  Mount  Zion,  when 
"  suddenly  there  came  a  sound  from  heaven  as  of  a 
rushing  mighty  wind,  and  it  filled  all  the  house 
where  they  were  sitting,"  and  the  glory  that  imme- 
diately followed.  "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it 
listeth.  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst 
not  tell  whence  it  cometh  nor  whither  it  goeth." 

The  atmosphere,  the  symbol  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
whom  God  hath  sent  to  administer  the  bounteous 
provision  of  salvation  to  a  perishing  world.  The  air, 
everywhere  present,  enveloping  the  world,  mysteri- 
ous, invisible,  yet  always  abiding  with  us,  now  at 
rest,  then  moving  in  the  gentle  zephyr,  then  in  the 


"why  you  no  tell  black  fellow  till  now  ?'*  161 

breeze,  then  in  the  gale,  then  in  the  hurricane. 
This  mighty  Spirit  of  God  abiding  with  us,  and  to 
"abide  with  us  for  ever/'  and  yet  adjusting  His 
mighty  power  to  the  laws  of  the  human  mind,  and 
moral  nature. 

I  realized  by  faith  on  that  occasion  what  I  never 
can  explain,  even  with  the  help  of  this  Scripture 
teaching.  If  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  is  to 
extend  to  "  that  great  and  notable  day  of  the  Lord, 
when  He  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead,"  and 
if  the  ever- abiding  Spirit  is  as  available  now,  and 
as  willing  to  fulfil  His  mighty  mission  now,  as  He 
was  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  why  is  the  world  not 
saved  ?  I  wept  over  the  defective  faith,  and  ineffec- 
tive methods,  of  the  Church,  and  thought  how  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  grieved  in  not  having  suitable  agen- 
cies for  the  successful  prosecution,  and  consumma- 
tion of  His  work,  according  to  God's  purpose,  and 
most  adequate  provisions  in  Christ.  As  I  saw  dead 
souls  by  the  score  stand  up  by  the  power  of  the 
Spirit,  till  they  became  like  an  army  around  us,  and 
heard  them  witnessing  to  the  saving  mercy  of  Jesus 
in  their  hearts,  I  felt  the  keen  retort  of  the  South 
Australian  black  fellow,  "  at  Lake  Alexandrina,  on 
the  Murray."  A  man  whom  this  native  had  known 
for  twenty  years  was  warning  him  for  the  first  time 
against  the  danger  of  losing  his  soul,  and  the  sable 
son  of  nature  said  with  great  vehemence,  "  If  you 
know  all  this  time  that  black  fellow  going  to  hell, 
why  you  no  tell  black  fellow  till  now  ?  "     A  majority 

M 


162  HEALD   TOWN. 

of  those  before  me,  to  be  sure,  had  been  born  ana 
brought  up  under  Gospel  teaching;  theirold  friend  and 
minister,  who  led  them  out  of  Kaffir  bondage,  had  lived 
and  died  among  them  at  that  very  spot ;  in  the  chapel 
before  us,  was  a  slab  to  his  memory,  on  which  it 
was  stated  that  the  last  prayer  he  ever  offered,  just  as 
he  was  stepping  into  Death's  dark  river,  was  that 
God  would  bless  and  save  his  "dear  Fingoes;"  his 
prayer  was  now  being  answered  among  the  ones  to 
whom  he  last  preached,  but  I  thought  of  the  mil- 
lions beyond,  who  have  not  to  this  day  heard  of 
Jesus.  Oh,  I  felt  that,  dearly  as  I  loved  my  country, 
my  conference,  my  home,  and,  above  all,  my  dear 
family,  if  it  were  the  Lord's  will  to  adjust  my  rela- 
tions satisfactorily  in  regard  to  those  sacred  interests, 
and  call  me  to  this  work,  I  would  hail  it  as  a  privi- 
lege, to  lead  a  band  of  Black  native  evangelists 
through  the  African  Continent,  till  "  Ethiopia" 
would  not  only  "  stretch  out  her  hands,"  but  em- 
brace Christ,  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  the  Mediterra- 
nean. 

At  the  close  of  this  second  service  at  Heald  Town, 
Be  v.  Brother  Sargent  reported  the  names  of  167 
native,  and  three  European,  converts,  during  the 
service  of  five  hours,  making  an  aggregate  for  the 
two  services  of  306  natives,  and  ten  whites  saved,  "  by 
the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  shed  forth  abundantly  upon  us,  through 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."     These,  added  to  the  sixty- 


CARING    FOR   THE    LAMBS.  163 

five  Europeans  at  Fort  Beaufort,  will  make  a  total  of 
381  souls  brought  to  God,  aud  "justified  freely  by 
His  grace  "  during  the  space  of  five  days.  The  name 
of  each  one  was  written  down  by  the  ministers  in 
charge,  after  a  personal  examination,  and  the  testi- 
mony of  almost  every  one  was  clear  and  satisfactory. 
My  instructions  to  the  pastors  were,  that  if  they 
should  find  any  with  whose  experience  they  were  not 
satisfied,  they  should  kindly  send  them  back  to  the 
altar  of  prayer,  and  have  them  continue  to  seek  the 
Lord  till  they  should  obtain  pardon,  and  the  satisfac- 
tory "  witness  of  the  Spirit." 

Of  course  we  cannot  see  the  hearts  of  any,  but  in 
connection  with  clear  Gospel  teaching,  and  all  the 
outward  signs  of  awakening,  repentance,  and  faith 
in  Christ,  followed  by  the  distinct  testimony  of  each 
convert,  we  take  their  names  that  they  may  be 
gotten  immediately  into  the  classes,  and  receive  the 
pastor's  care. 

A  shepherd,  on  the  purchase  of  a  large  addition  to 
his  flock,  would  not  be  satisfied  to  allow  them  to 
wander  off,  without  even  identifying,  and  so  marking 
them,  as  at  least  to  know  them  himself.  His  care 
would  extend  to  every  little  lamb,  and  the  weak 
ones  he  would  often  bear  in  his  bosom.  At  the  close 
of  our  service  at  Heald  Town,  I  gave  the  Local 
Preachers,  Leaders,  and  members  generally,  an  ad- 
dress on  the  care  necessary  to  the  healthy  growth 
of  the  young  converts. 

If  the  stirring  incidents  and  scenes  of  those  two 
services  could  be  recorded,  they  would  fill  a  volume ; 


104  /IEALD   TOWN. 

but  they  were  really  indescribable  ;  I  will,  however, 
for  further  illustration  of  that  great  work  of  God, 
insert  the  following  letter,  written  by  the  Rev. 
Brother  Sargent  to  the  secretaries  in  London,  which 
appears  in  the  Missionary  Notices,  for  October,  1866. 
"Tuesday,  June  19th. — "What  a  day!  I  know 
not  how  to  record  it.  I  never  witnessed  anything 
which  so  reminded  me  of  what  is  recorded  of  the 
Day  of  Pentecost  in  the  2nd  of  Acts.  At  9.30  a.m., 
I  started  with  Mr.  Taylor  for  Heald  Town.  The 
people  had  already  collected  in  the  chapel,  and  were 
engaged  in  an  earnest  prayer-meeting.  Mr.  Taylor 
addressed  them,  through  an  interpreter,  from  the 
words,  "But  ye  shall  receive  power  after  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  come  upon  you."  The  effect  was 
manifest.  The  truth  told  with  wondrous  power  on 
the  congregation.  At  the  close,  those  who  were 
desirous  of  seeking  the  Lord  were  exhorted  to  stand 
up,  and  then  kneel  round  the  communion-rails. 
About  three  hundred  fell  simultaneously  upon  their 
knees,  among  whom  there  was  a  considerable  number 
of  Europeans,  many  of  whom  had  come  from  Beau- 
fort. There  was  now  a  great  weeping.  At  first  all 
seemed  chaos  and  confusion.  Even  the  native  Local 
Preachers  and  Class  Leaders  were  confounded ;  and 
it  was  some  time  before  I  could  get  them  into 
working  order.  The  first  paroxysm  of  excitement 
having  subsided,  the  native  agents  distributed  them- 
selves all  over  the  chapel,  speaking  to,  and  praying 
with,  the  penitents.     The  distress  of  some  souls  was 


DELIVERANCE   TO   THE    CAPTIVES.  105 

extremely  great,  but  after  awhile  one  after  another 
entered  into  the  liberty  of  the  children  of  God, 
passing  from  the  excess  of  grief  to  the  excess  of  joy, 
The  scene  was  indescribable,  as  first  one  and  then 
another  rose  to  praise  God,  with  eyes  sparkling,  an4 
countenance  beaming  with  joy,  and  tears  flowing  in 
copious  streams  from  their  eyes'.  One  exclaimed, 
'  Satan  is  conquered  !  Satan  is  conquered  !  Satan  is 
conquered  I"  Another,  a  very  old  woman,  lifted  her 
eyes  and  hands  towards  heaven,  and  exclaimed,  for 
five  or  ten  minutes,  at  the  top  of  her  voice,  "  He  is 
holy  !  He  is  holy  !  He  is  holy  !  '  A  very  old  man, 
who  had  been  in  an  agony  of  distress,  when  set  at 
liberty,  exclaimed,  '  My  Father  has  set  me  free  ! 
My  Father  has  set  me  free !  My  Father  has  set  me 
free  ! '  These  are  merely  specimens.  We  were  five 
hours  hard  at  work ;  and,  at  the  close,  140  persons 
professed  to  have  a  obtained  a  sense  of  the  pardoning 
love  of  God. 

"  Thursday,  21st. — Returned  to  Heald  Town  in 
company  with  Mr.  Taylor ;  a  great  number  of 
Europeans  following  us  from  Fort  Beaufort.  The 
chapel  was  crowded  to  excess.  Mr.  Taylor  preached 
a  very  searching  and  powerful  sermon  on  the  '  Ten 
Commandments.'  After  the  sermon  those  seeking 
salvation  were  invited  to  the  communion-rail.  I 
suppose  more  than  200  fell  upon  their  knees,  crying 
aloud  for  mercy  ;  sobs,  and  sighs,  and  groans  filled 
the  chapel.  After  the  first  burst  of  powerful  emotion, 
I  got  the  Local  Preachers  and  Class  Leaders  to  dis- 


ICG  HEALD   TOWN. 

tribute  themselves  among  the  penitents.  After  a 
while,  the  shouts  of  the  pardoned  strangely  mingled 
with  the  cries  of  the  penitents.  We  continued  the 
meeting  for  five  hours  ;  and  at  the  close  160  pro- 
fessed to  have  '  found  peace  and  joy  through  be- 
lieving/ making,  in  the  two  days,  300  who  had 
professedly  '  obtained  peace/  (This  report  does  not 
include  the  white  converts.) 

"I  am  happy  to  say  that  the  work  is  still  pro- 
gressing ;  and  we  seldom  hold  a  meeting  for  in- 
quirers without  a  number  coming  forward,  and 
several  of  them  getting  into  liberty.  These  have  not 
numerically  increased  our  Church  members,  as  much 
as  some  might  suppose,  as  the  majority  of  those 
who  have  '  found  peace '  were  already  members  of 
society,  but  had  never  obtained  a  clear  sense  of 
pardon,  or,  having  obtained  it  in  years  gone  by,  had 
lost  it  through  unfaithfulness.  Yet  I  may  add,  that 
a  considerable  number  consists  of  young  people  who 
have  been  brought  up  in  our  Sabbath-  and  day- 
schools.  These  I  am  now  forming  into  juvenile 
classes.  There  are  still  many  seekers  in  the  con- 
gregation, especially  among  the  young  ;  and  at  the 
close  of  every  evening  service  the  bushes  and  rocks 
about  the  station  are  for  hours  vocal  with  the  prayers 
of  those  who  are  earnestly  pleading  for  mercy. 
Since  this  work  began  the  desire  for  learning  among 
the  young  people  of  the  station  is  something  wonder- 
ful.     Children  now  came   to   the   day-school    who 


THE    WORK    PROGRESSING.  167 

never  came  before;  and  the  numbers  have  been 
almost  doubled.  The  difficulty  now  is  to  find  books 
and  teachers  for  them. 

"  The  work  has  not  been  confined  to  the  natives  ; 
but  the  few  European  families  living  on  the  station 
have  likewise  '  been  made  partakers  of  the  benefit.' 
Nearly  all  who  were  not  members  before  have  now 
joined  the  Society,  and  are  rejoicing  in  a  sense  of  the 
Divine  favour.  Several  European  children  have 
been  formed  into  an  interesting  class ;  and  not 
satisfied  with  this,  they  have,  at  their  own  instance, 
formed  themselves  into  a  juvenile  prayer-meeting, 
which  I  allow  them  to  conduct  in  their  own  way, 
without  the  presence  or  interference  of  any  adult." 

An  extract  from  a  letter  I  received  from  Brother 
Sargent,  dated  July  17th,  nearly  a  month  after  I  left, 
may  serve  to  illustrate  the  continued  progress  of  this 
work  in  Heald  Town  : — "  I  am  thankful  to  say  that 
the  good  work  of  the  Lord  is  still  progressing 
favourably  at  Heald  Town.  About  sixty  more  have 
found  peace  since  you  left,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  there  would  have  been  a  much  larger 
number,  but  for  the  fact,  that  I  have  had  to  be 
away  so  often,  that  the  penitent  meetings  have  not 
been  held  so  frequently  as  I  could  wish.  There  is 
much  earnestness  manifested  among  the  people,  both 
old  and  young.  You  would  be  amazed  and  delighted 
to  hear  their  cries  of  a  night  till  after  nine  or  ten 
o'clock ;    and,  in  some  cases,    till  daylight  in  the 


1G8  HEALD   TOWN. 

morning,  pleading  for  the  pardon  of  their  sins.  The 
valleys  and  rocks  below  the  mission -house  are  literally 
vocal  with  the  cries  of  penitents,  morning,  noon,  and 
night.  You  will  be  glad  to  be  informed  that  last 
Saturday,  in  our  Local  Preacher's  meeting,  the  local 
brethren,  in  receiving  several  new  candidates  on  the 
Local  Preacher's  plan,  passed  a  resolution,  that  no 
one  using  Kaffir  beer,  or  any  other  strong  drink, 
shall  be  allowed  to  exercise  the  office  of  Local  Preacher 
among  them.  Next  Saturday  the  Class-leaders  in- 
tend passing  the  resolution  respecting  themselves  ; 
not  allowing  any  to  exercise  the  office  of  Class  Lea- 
der in  Heald  Town,  who  will  not  give  up  the  drink- 
ing of  Kaffir  beer,  and  all  other  intoxicating  drinks." 
The  Kaffir  beer  is  made  of  maize  or  Indian  corn. 
It  was  considered  by  many  good  people  a  wholesome 
nourishing  drink,  and  as  the  Kaffirs  do  not  usually 
have  tea  or  coffee,  the  Kaffir  beer  was  tolerated  on 
the  mission- stations  ;  but  its  use  wrought  all  manner 
of  mischief,  especially  at  the  Kaffir  beer-feasts, 
which  are  very  common  among  the  Heathen  Kaffirs, 
resulting  in  drunkenness  and  all  its  consequent  evils. 
The  total  abstinence  reform  movement  commenced 
among  the  Kaffirs  at  Annshaw  about  five  years  ago. 
Charles  Pamla  was  one  of  tne  leaders  in  the  move- 
ment, and  endured  a  great  deal  of  persecution  from 
the  old  school  beer-drinking  members ;  but  he  never 
struck  his  colours,  and  now  all  the  leading  men  at 
Annshaw,  Heald  Town,  and  other  stations  are  fully 
with  him.     I  was  very  sorry  that  Brother  Sargent's 


POETIC   DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    WORK.  169 

engagements  called  him  away,  so  that  the  work  in 
Heald  Town  was  not  pushed  with  the  same  vigour  as 
at  Annshaw.  The  next  Sabbath,  after  I  was  there, 
he  was,  according  to  a  previous  engagement,  preach- 
ing at  Adelaide,  twenty  miles  distant,  and  soon 
after  that  he  was  called  away  to  King  William's 
Town,  fifty  miles  distant,  to  take  Mrs.  Sargent  to  see 
her  dying  father,  Mr.  George  Impey.  Those  poor 
penitents  crying  day  and  night  in  the  woods,  should 
have  been  brought  at  once  to  Jesus,  the  only  Saviour 
of  sinners. 

Eecurring  to  that  memorable  Thursday  once  more, 
I  may  add  that  Mr.  Templer,  the  native  teacher, 
though  not  a  poet,  perpetrated  a  poetic  effusion, 
which  was  published  and  pronounced  good ;  so  much 
of  it  relates  to  myself,  that  it  is  hardly  safe  for  me 
to  insert  it,  yet,  as  its  descriptive  power  may  arrest 
the  attention  of  some  poetic  reader  and  do  good,  I 
may  be  excused  for  copying  thirteen  of  the  twenty- 
three  verses  of  the  poem.  Beholding  the  scene, 
with  his  eye  alternately  on  the  preacher  and  the 
audience,  he  says  : — 

Equipp'd,  with.  "  the  whole  armour  of  his  God  ;* 

Prepared  to  fight  the  battles  of  his  Lord ; 
His  willing  "  feet,  with  Gospel  peace  well  shod," 

And  holding  in  his  hand,  the  "  Spirit's  sword.'' 

"  The  righteous  breastplate,  and  faith's  mighty  shield," 
Adorn'd  his  front,  and  turn'd  hell's  dart  aside  ; 

The  law  of  "  truth,"  which  God  to  man  reveal'd, 
"  Begirt  his  loins,"  and  was  his  strength  and  guide. 


170  HEALD  TOWN. 

"  Salvation's  helmet,''  did  his  head  secure ; 

His  Captain's  name,  his  "  forehead"  render'd  bold* 
Eternal  truth,  his  mind  did  richly  store, 

And  thence  he  drew  his  weapons  "  new  and  old." 

With  simple,  earnest,  "  supplicating  prayer," 
And  labour  hard,  he  made  his  armour  shine : 

Did  all  thy  servants,  Lord,  such  'quipment  wear, 
The  fallen  race  of  man,  would  soon  be  Thine. 

He  saw  a  motley  throng  before  him  rise, 

Whose  blood  'neath  skins  of  various  hues  did  run  f 

Yet  souls  alike  redeem'd  with  highest  price — 
The  precious  blood  of  God's  beloved  Son. 

His  voice,  "  like  trumpet  loud,"  God's  law,  declar'df 
On  Sina  given,  was  "  holy,  just,  and  good  :" 

With  this,  the  lives  of  old  and  young  compar'd, 
And  then  their  guilt  in  crimson  colours  stood. 

«'  Now  think  awhile,"  said  he,  "  let  conscience  live , 
Yourselves  your  judges  be  ;  then  thus  inquire — 

Can  God  be  just,  and  yet  my  sins  forgive, 
Or  must  I  dwell  with  the  devouring  fire  ?'' 

With  speed  more  swift  than  lightning's  swiftest  dart, 
His  soul  flew  up  in  silent,  earnest  prayer, 

To  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  break  the  heart- 
Convince,  and  start  the  penitential  tear. 

He  did  his  work — conviction  seiz'd  the  soul, 

With  godly  grief;  then  prostrate  on  the  ground 

They  fell,  and  tears  of  penitence  did  roll — 
One  Pentecostal  scene  was  spread  around. 

*'  The  powers  of  darkness  "  raged ;  "  it  was  their  hour* 
Souls,  long  in  bondage  held,  and  captive  led, 

Were  struggling  to  be  freed,  from  Satan's  power, 

Which  held  them  bound,  though  Christ  had  bruis'd  his 
head. 


RETURNING    FROM    THE    FIELD    OF    BATTLE.      171 

With  tongue  of  seraphic  fire,  the  herald  cried, 
"  Believe  in  Christ — this  is  the  record  true- 
To  save  a  guilty  world,  the  Saviour  died — 
He  tasted  death  for  all— he  died  for  YOU." 

A  ray  of  light  appear'd  ;  then  Satan,  thron'd, 
His  greatest  efforts  made,  to  "  keep  in  peace 

His  house  and  goods  "  which  he  so  long  had  own'dt 
But  Jesus  came  and  gave  the  soul  release. 

Then  shouts  of  joy,  and  songs  of  highest  praise, 

To  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit  rose  ; 
And  others  heard  the  vivifying  lays, 

Were  pierc'd  and  felt  the  guilty  sinner's  throes. 

As  we  returned  from  Heald  Town  to  Fort  Beaufort, 
accompanied  by  a  large  number  of  Europeans  on 
horseback,  and  many  natives  on  foot,  though  we 
drove  rapidly  to  be  m  time  for  the  evening  appoint- 
ment, some  of  the  black  fellows,  happy  in  the  Lord, 
and  light  on  foot  as  Elijah  before  the  chariot  of 
Ahab,  ran  so  fast,  as  to  keep  up  with  us  most  of  the 
distance  of  six  miles. 

Passing  a  jungle,  we  saw  a  mobof  monkeys  perched 
on  the  thickly-matted  tops  of  the  trees,  clearly  denned 
above  the  branches.  They  seemed  surprised  to  see 
so  many  persons  in  their  unfrequented  woods,  and 
stood  erect  looking  at  us  till  we  passed  out  of  sight. 

Mrs.  Thomas  Guard  witnessed  all  the  scenes  of 
that  day,  and  possessing  a  very  refined  taste,  a  nice 
sense  of  propriety,  and  not  favourable  to  noisy  re- 
ligious exercises,  I  was  a  little  surprised  to  find  her 
♦nthusiastic  in  her  expressions  of  admiration  of  all  she 
aad  seen  and  heard.     I  had  observed  that  she  looked 


172  HEALD   TOWN. 

on  and  wept,  and  smiled  alternately,  during  most  oi 
the  service,  and  as  we  drove  along  she  said,  "  I  have 
seen  most  of  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe,  was  at  the 
opening  of  the  Great  Exhibition  in  1851,  have  wit- 
nessed, and  felt  the  thrilling  effects  of  the  most  im- 
posing pageants  of  royalty,  but  I  never  saw  anything 
for  sublimity  and  soul-stirring  effect  to  compare  with 
the  scenes  of  this  day.  I  would  not  have  missed  the 
meeting  of  to-day  for  anything  that  could  be  offered." 
"  But  dear  me,"  says  one,  "  such  sudden  work  as 
that  must  be  very  transient — over  three  hundred 
persons  professing  conversion  at  two  day's  services, 
and  working  weekdays  too,  why  it  must  have  been 
a  straw  fire  that  will  soon  die  out." 

Indeed,  after  so  long  a  preparation,  why  should 
not  "  the  Lord  whom  ye  seek  come  suddenly  in  His 
temple?"  Was  not  that  the  way  the  Holy  Spirit 
did  it  when  He  first  entered  on  His  great  work  in 
Jerusalem  ?  If  He  hath  changed  His  methods  of 
working,  it  is  a  wonder  He  hath  not  informed  us,  so 
that  we  may  adjust  ourselves  to  them.  That  was  a 
quick  work  by  which  three  thousand  souls  were 
saved  in  one  day,  under  the  first  Gospel  sermon  they 
ever  heard  in  their  lives,  and  yet  thirty-three  years 
afterwards  St.  Luke  testified  to  their  steadfastness, 
saying,  "  They  continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostle's 
doctrine,  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread 
and  in  prayers." 

To  illustrate  the  genuine  character  and  permanency 
of  this  work,  of  the  same  pentecostal  Spirit,  at  Heald 


PERMANENT    EFFECTS.  173 

Town,  so  far  as  we  can  in  the  time  which  has  since 
elapsed,  I  may  be  allowed  to  copy  part  of  a  letter 
written  me  by  Rev.  Wm.  Sargent,  who  has  recently 
been  sent  to  Graham's  Town  circuit,  but  who  is  best 
prepared  to  testify  of  this  work,  nearly  ten  months 
after  my  visit.  His  letter  is  dated  Graham's  Town, 
April  the  4th,  1867,  in  which  he  says : — 

I  am  thankful  to  be  able  to  say,  that  up  to  the  time  of 
my  leaving  Ileald  Town,  and  since  my  departure,  the  work 
has  been  widening  and  deepening.  At  the  time  of  our 
District  Meeting  in  January,  besides  about  two  hundred 
old  members,  who  had  either  obtained  for  the  first  time  a 
sense  of  their  acceptance  with  God,  or  had  recovered  what 
they  had  lost,  and  many  who  had  been  raised  to  a  higher 
platform  of  Christian  experience,  there  were  three  hundred 
and  fifty-eight,  principally  young  persons,  who  had  been 
received  on  trial,  most  of  whom  had  been  made  happy  in 
God's  pardoning  love.  WitrT  the  experience  of  some  of 
these  young  people  I  was  truly  astonished  at  the  Quarterly 
Visitation,  describing  their  conversion  to  God  in  a  way  that 
would  have  been  impossible,  had  they  not  been  taught  of 
God.  Out  of  about  four  hundred  professing  conversion  to 
God,  not  above  two  or  three  persons  had,  up  to  the  time  of 
my  leaving  Heald  Town,  discontinued  meeting  in  class. 
This,  I  may  remark,  has  been  a  striking  peculiarity  in  the 
recent  revival  during  your  visit  in  these  parts.  Immedi- 
ately after  every  previous  revival,  there  was  always  a  con- 
siderable falling  away ;  but  the  cases  of  defalcation,  in  this 
instance,  have  been  exceedingly  few  compared  with  the 
numbers  brought  in. 

In  reference  to  the  effects  of  the  recent  work  of  God  at 
Heald  Town,  I  may  remark, — 


174  HEALF    TOWN. 

1st.  The  members  of  the  church  have  all  been  greatly 
quickened,  and  raised  to  a  higher  standard  in  the  Divine 
life  than  they  previously  enjoyed. 

2nd.  The  Local  Preachers  and  Class  Leaders  have  been 
aroused  to  a  sense  of  their  duties  and  responsibilities,  and 
have  devoted  themselves,  with  renewed  energy,  to  the  work 
of  the  Lord.  Some  of  them,  in  addition  to  their  ordinary 
work,  have  associated  a  number  of  the  new  converts  with 
themselves,  and  have  gone  from  hamlet  to  hamlet  preach 
ing  the  Gospel,  and  conducting  prayer-meetings.  These 
meetings  have  often  resulted  in  the  conversion  of  individuals 
who  seemed  to  be  otherwise  inaccessible. 

3rd.  New  Leaders  and  Local  Preachers  have  come  for- 
ward in  a  way  we  never  anticipated,  and  have  helped  to 
carry  on  the  work  of  the  Lord  with  efficiency  and   success. 

4th.  Our  native  agents  have  shown  a  determination  to 
battle  with  the  remains  of  heathen  customs,  towards  which 
.they  were  formerly  disposed  to  be  lenient,  such  as  polygamy, 
circumcision,  the  drinking  of  Kaffir  beer,  etc.  They  seem 
determined  to  purge  out  of  themselves,  and  out  of  the 
society  the  very  last  elements  of  "  the  old  leaven,  that  they 
may  be  a  new  lump."  In  respect  to  the  very  injurious 
custom  of  Kaffir  beer-drinking,  the  Local  Preachers  first, 
and  then  the  Class  Leaders  afterwards,  bound  themselves  by  a 
solemn  pledge  that,  for  the  influence  of  their  example,  they 
would  not  henceforth  use  this  pernicious  drink,  and  that  they 
would  do  all  they  could  to  put  it  down,  both  in  and  out  of 
the  church.  Had  it  been  in  their  power,  many  of  them 
would  have  gone  so  far  as  to  make  it  a  condition  of  mem- 
bership, allowing  no  one  to  be  a  member  of  the  church  who 
would  not  consent  to  give  it  up,  in  every  form  and  degree. 
But  others  felt  that  this  could  not  be  done  without  an  en- 
actment of  Conference,  which  should  render  "  total  absti- 
nance  "  a  sine  qua  non  of  membership   throughout  all  our 


Am.  wesley's  teetotalism.  175 

societies.  (Mr.  Wesley's  enactment  in  the  "  general  rules 
of  our  societies,"  has  been  sufficient  to  make  "total  abstain- 
ers "  of  all  the  Methodists  of  America,  numbering  in  the 
aggregate  two  millions  of  members,  and  fourteen  thousand 
travelling  ministers.  The  poor  Kaffir  Christians  feel  some- 
thing of  the  same  apprehension  of  danger  in  tampering  with 
drinking  customs — which  have  killed  their  tens  of  thousands, 
to  the  tens  of  hundreds  slaughtered  by  the  sword — that  Mr. 
Ashbury's  preachers  felt  in  America  nearly  a  hundred  years 
ago,  when  they  made  Mr.  Wesley's  rule  practical  and 
effective,  prohibiting  the  "  buying  or  selling  spirituous 
liquors ;  or  drinking  them,  unless  in  cases  of  extreme 
necessity" — by  "spirituous  liquors"  Americans  under- 
stand all  intoxicating  drinks,  wine,  Kaffir  beer,  and  all  the 
rest ;  by  the  terms  "  extreme  necessity,"  they  understand 
the  medical  necessity  of  sick  persons. 

5th.  The  Sabbath  schools  and  day  schools,  in  a  short 
time,  almost  doubled  their  members,  and  the  thirst  for 
learning  among  the  young  people  became  most  manifest 
in  an  unprecedented  application  for  school-books,  and  that 
from  children  upon  the  adjacent  hamlets,  who  previously 
cared  for  none  of  these  things. 

Many  of  these  young  people  formed  themselves  into 
prayer-meetings,  which  they  hold  in  the  fields  alone.  One 
Sabbath  afternoon,  not  long  before  leaving  Heald  Town,  I 
was  walking  a  little  below  the  institution  towards  the 
'  kloof,'  (a  deep  gorge  or  ravine)  when  I  saw  some  twenty 
or  thirty  native  children  making  their  way  down  into  the 
'  bush.'  I  was  suspicious  that  they  were  meeting  for  pur- 
poses of  play,  and  therefore  watched  them.  I  soon  found, 
to  my  agreeable  surprise,  that  they  were  a  company  of 
Sabbath-school  children,  met  for  a  prayer-meeting,  spend- 
ing an  hour  after  school  in  alternate  prayer  and  singing. 
The  six  or  eight  European  children  at  Heald  Town,  besides 


176  HEALD   TOWN. 

attending  class,  formed  themselves  into  a  select  prayer- 
meeting. 

My  little  girl  of  nine  years,  after  having  cried  to  be 
permitted  to  meet  in  class  herself,  went  from  house  to  house 
among  the  Europeans  upon  the  station,  and  invited  all  their 
children  about  her  own  age  to  a  little  room,  the  use  of 
which  she  had  obtained  for  that  purpose,  and  formed  them 
into  a  prayer-meeting. 

One  day  she  came  to  me  saying,  "  Pa,  what  can  I  do  for 
that  poor  sick  man  ?  " 

She  had  heard  me  speak  of  a  sick  native  man,  whom  I 
had  been  visiting.     I  said, 

"  What  do  you  mean,  my  dear  ?  " 

"  Oh,"  she  replied,  "  I  would  like  to  do  something  for 
him?" 

I  told  her  that  she  might  go  and  buy  a  few  groceries  at 
the  shop,  and  take  them  to  him.  She  did  so ;  but  took  her 
New  Testament  under  her  arm,  and  having  given  him  the 
groceries,  she  read  several  portions  of  God's  Word  to  him, 
and  then  asked  him  if  he  was  happy.  I  knew  nothing  of 
it  till  the  man  told  me  himself,  what  a  comfort  it  had  been 
to  him.  This  same  man  had  been  a  vile  backslider,  bub 
had  been  recovered  during  your  visit  to  Heald  Town.  He 
now  thought  himself  upon  his  deathbed,  but  was  filled  with 
the  light  of  God's  countenance,  and  anticipating  a  speedy 
admission  into  His  presence,  where  "  there  is  fulness  of 
joy."  He,  however,  subsequently  recovered,  and  is 
"  adorning  the  doctrine  of  Christ  his   Saviour."    *    *    * 

Our  last  District  Meeting  was  one  of  the  most  harmoni- 
ous and  profitable  we  have  yet  had.  The  reports  of  the 
different  circuits  were  such  as  to  warm  and  encourage  every 
heart,  and  all  the  brethren  seemed  as  if  they  were  baptized 
afresh  for  their  great  work.  A  record  was  entered  upon 
the  Minutes  of  your  visit  among  us,  and  it  was  resolved  to 


"  WILT   THOU    NOT    REVIVE    AGAIN  ?  "  177 

bold  special  meetings  in  all  the  circuits  in  May  or  June 
next,  to  seek  for  another  revival  and  still  greater  extension 
of  God's  work  among  us.  We  are  looking  for  great  things. 
I  know  not  why  we  should  not  have  constantly  repeated 
baptisms  of  the  Spirit.     Why  not  t 


CHAPTER   XIL 


SOMERSET    EAST. 


On  Friday  morning,  the  22nd  of  June,  Brother  Sar- 
gent, in  company  with  his  son  and  daughter,  drove 
me  twenty  miles  with  his  cart  and  pair,  to  the 
village  of  Adelaide,  on  my  way  to  Somerset,  which 
is  about  eighty  miles  distant  from  Fort  Beaufort. 
At  half-past  two  p.m.,  I  preached  at  Adelaide  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  Rev.  Peter  Davidson,  pastor, 
with  whom  I  dined.  I  had  dined  with  his  brother, 
the  Rev.  William  Davidson,  at  his  own  house, 
in  the  town  of  "  Clare, "  South  Australia,  and 
had  become  acquainted  with  another  brother,  Rev. 
James  Davidson,  King  William's  Town,  British 
Kaffraria,  so  instead  of  strangers,  we  seemed  to 
meet  as  friends.  The  Wesleyans  have  no  society 
at  Adelaide,  but  we  have  a  few  good  men  there, 
who,  in  the  absence  of  their  own  Church,  have 
united  with  Mr.  Davidson.  Mr.  Francis  King 
sent  his  cart  and  pair,  to  convey  me  that  afternoon 
to  Bedford,  twenty  miles  further  on  my  way, 
Brothers  Sargent  and  Davidson  accompanying.  I 
was  weary  and  allowed  them  to  do  all  the  talking. 


THE    "  NAG    MAL.  "  179 

brother  Davidson  gave  us  an  interesting  history  of 
himself,  and  brother  ministers,  and  their  widowed 
mother,  and  how  they  struggled  up  the  hill  of  diffi- 
culty, in  acquiring  an  education,  and  preparing  for 
the  ministry.  It  was  altogether  a  very  interesting 
narrative.  Brother  Davidson  is  a  very  genial  Scotch- 
man, and  I  am  told  an  earnest  evangelical  minister 
of  the  Gospel.  The  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in 
Adelaide  are  building  a  church  edifice  there  which 
will  cost  £25,000,  and  a  minister's  house  to  cost 
£3,000,  altogether  the  sum  of  £28,000.  The  village 
is  very  small,  but  it  is  the  centre  of  a  large  Dutch 
farming  community.  The  Dutch,  being  the  first 
European  settlers  in  South  Africa,  own  the  ma- 
jority of  the  best  farms,  and  build  very  large 
churches  in  accessible  centres,  and  put  up  small 
houses  contiguous,  for  temporary  home  comfort 
during  their  sojourn  at  their  "  nag  nulls."  The 
"  nag  mal,"  or  "  night  meal,"  is  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  which  is  administered  at  their 
churches  quarterly.  The  farmers,  within  a  radius 
of  twenty  or  thirty  miles,  attend  on  those  occa- 
sions, with  their  families,  and  spend  several  days 
in  religious  duties,  embracing  the  sacraments  of 
baptism,  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  preaching  the 
Gospe^  and  confirmation;  and  a  social  reunion 
with  their  friends.  For  a  sparsely  settled  pastoral 
country,  like  Southern  Africa,  I  think  it  a  verv 
good  arrangement  indeed,  and  might  be  made  very 
useful  among   the  the  Wesleyans,    as   a    kind    of 


180  SOMERSET    EAST. 

"  camp  -meeting/'  to  promote  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
scattered  country  societies.  The  appointment  for 
my  preaching  in  Adelaide  was  circulated  after  our 
arrival,  and  a  company  of  about  sixty  persons  as- 
sembled, to  whom,  for  the  first  and  last  time, 
I  presented  the  offer  of  Christ  as  their  only 
Saviour.  Five  months  afterwards,  Bev.  Brother 
Sargent,  in  a  letter  to  me,  makes  the  following  allu- 
sion to  that  occasion.  "  You  will  remember  our 
visit  to  Adelaide,  I  feared  it  was  rather  dis- 
couraging to  your  own  mind,  having  but  a  small 
attendance  at  the  chapel,  but  I  have  heard  of  at 
least  one  young  man  by  the  name  of  Trollip,  whose 
friends  you  met  in  Queen's  Town,  who  was  that  day 
savingly  impressed,  and  has  since  died  happy  in  the 
Lord/'  In  a  letter  dated  April,  1857,  Brother  Sar- 
gent makes  another  allusion  to  that  occasion,  as 
follows :  "  Mr.  Benjamin  Trollip,  whose  soul  was 
greatly  blessed  under  your  ministry  at  Queen's 
Town  is  lying  upon  his  death-bed  in  Graham's 
Town,  unspeakably  happy  in  God.  He  is  the  father 
of  the  young  man  who  was  converted  under  your 
sermon  at  Adelaide,  and  died  happy  in  the  Lord 
shortly  after." 

Bedford  is  a  small  village  with  one  little  church, 
which  is  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Solomon.  Mr.  Solomon  was  for  many  years  a  mis- 
sionary to  the  Griquas,  Adam  Kok's  Hottentots,  and 
Dutch  bastards,  then  near  the  Orange  Rivei1,  now  in 
"  Nomansland/'  Kaffraria.      They  are    at    present, 


THE    MESSRS.    SOLOMON.  181 

and  ever  since  their  removal  to  their  new  home, 
without  a  missionary.  Yet  under  the  effect  of  former 
missionary  teaching  they  have  their  chapels,  and 
regular  services  among  themselves.  The  Wesleyan 
Missionaries  occasionally  visit  them,  and  administer 
the  sacraments  to  them. 

Mr.  Solomon,  after  a  separation  of  several  years, 
had  just  returned  from  a  visit  to  them,  of  several 
weeks.  He  is  greatly  interested  in  their  welfare, 
and  says,  that  but  for  his  family  relations  he  would 
go  and  live  with  them.  Rev.  Mr.  Solomon  is  a 
brother  of  the  celebrated  Saul  Solomon  of  Cape 
Town — celebrated  for  his  littleness  of  stature,  about 
three  and  a-half  feet  high,  and  for  his  greatness 
as  a  politician,  and  member  of  the  Colonial  Parlia- 
ment, for  literary  and  commercial  enterprise,  con- 
ducting a  large  paper  in  Cape  Town,  and  a 
variety  of  business  pursuits — the  greatest  man  of 
his  size,  I  suppose  in  the  world.  I  preached  for 
Rev.  Mr.  Solomon  that  night.  His  church,  being 
the  only  one  in  the  place  is  made  up  of  all  denomi- 
nations," among  whom  are  some  excellent  Wesleyans, 
especially  Francis  King,  his  brother,  and  their 
families. 

The  Kings  are  of  the  Graham's  Town  stock  of 
Wesleyans,  where  their  good  old  father  still  lives. 

They  are  sheep  and  cattle  farmers.  Being  native- 
born  "Africandas,"  as  the  native  Europeans  are 
called,  they  have  had  many  adventures,  both  in  times 
of  war  and  peace.    Francis  King  said  ho  and  another 


182  SOMERSET   EAST. 

young  man  were  once  travelling  together  to  Nama- 
qualand,  to  explore  the  copper  mines  (350  miles  west 
of  Cape  Town).  They  were  on  horseback,  but  were 
unarmed.  Away  in  the  wilds,  two  hundred  miles  west 
of  Cape  Town,  they  were  suddenly  surrounded  by 
a  dozen  "  Bushmen,"  who  seized  the  bridles  of  their 
horses  and  stopped  them.  "  I  knew,"  said  King, 
"  from  their  general  character  and  their  movements, 
that  they  designed  to  rob  us,  and  perhaps  kill  us 
too,  but  fearing  that  we  had  concealed  weapons 
they  offered  no  violence  except  to  hold  us  fast.  My 
companion  was  greatly  alarmed,  and  said,  '  We're 
sure  to  be  killed  ;'  but  I  said,  '  Jim,  don't  show  the 
least  fear,  keep  perfectly  cool,  and  we  may  provi- 
dentially find  a  way  of  escape.'  After  we  had  waited 
some  time,  a  square,  burly-looking  fellow  came  up, 
having  six  toes  on  each  foot,  and  joined  the  rest  in 
holding  on  to  our  bridles  and  stirrup-leathers.  I 
soon  found  that  this  six-toed  fellow  could  speak  a 
little  Dutch,  so  I  said  to  him,  '  Take  us  to  the  water, 
we  want  to  drink.'  They  immediately  set  off  with  us, 
holding  our  bridles  on  each  side,  and  took  us  a  mile 
or  two  to  a  spring.  We  dismounted,  and  holding 
our  horses  with  one  hand,  managed  to  get  a  little 
water,  for  we  were  nearly  famished.  I  talked  to 
them  familiarly  all  the  time,  as  though  I  of  course 
thought  they  were  our  friends.  I  told  them  I  wanted 
to  buy  ostrich  feathers,  and  I  wanted  them  to  go  and 
get  me  some.  Two  of  them  ran  away,  and  after  an 
absence  of  nearly  an  hour  came  back  with  a  few 


THE   SIX-TOED   BUSHMAN.  183 

feathers.  I  paid  for  them,  and  said,  'This  is  not 
half  enough ;  I  want  you  all  to  go  and  bring  me  all 
the  feathers  you  can  get,  and  I'll  pay  you  a  good 
price  for  them/  so  they  all  started  off  under  the  im- 
pulse of  the  moment  to  get  feathers.  As  soon  as 
they  got  out  of  sight,  we  mounted,  and  rode  off  for 
life.  That  was  in  the  after  part  of  the  day.  We 
travelled  all  that  night,  and  till  late  in  the  p.m.  of 
the  next  day  before  we  stopped  long  enough  to  make 
a  cup  of  tea.  That  afternoon  as  we  passed  along. 
I  discovered  a  bees'  nest  in  the  rocks.  Near  sunset, 
over  forty  miles  from  where  we  left  the  Bushmen, 
we  encamped  for  the  night.  We  had  just  taken  a 
cup  of  tea,  and  were  talking  of  our  narrow  escape, 
when  lo,  the  six- toed  fellow  and  his  party  were  upon 
us.  They  came  and  seated  themselves  in  a  circle 
around  us,  without  saying  a  word.  I  talked  Dutch 
to  Six- toes,  but  he  made  no  reply.  I  laughed  and 
talked  as  though  nothing  had  happened,  or  was 
likely  to  happen,  while  I  was  trying  to  invent  a 
method  of  escape.  I  knew  if  we  showed  fear,  or  if 
they  should  find  out  that  we  were  unarmed,  it  would 
be  all  up  with  us.  All  at  once  I  thought  of  the 
bees'  nest,  and  said  I  to  Six-toes,  '  Wouldn't  you 
like  for  me  to  show  you  a  bees'  nest  ?  You  all  must 
be  hungry  after  your  journey,  and  I'm  sure  a  little 
honey  will  do  you  good/  Then  he  began  to  talk  a 
little,  but  in  a  very  surly  spirit.  I  said,  '  Come  with 
me,  and  I'll  show  you  a  bees'  nest,  and  you  can  get 
a  good  feed  oi  honey.'     I  got  up  and  started,  and 


181  SOMERSET   EAST. 

1hey  followed      Jim  said,  '  Frank,  you  are  not  going 
to  trust  yourself  alone  with,  those  savages,  I  hope.* 

"  I  replied,  '  Get  the  horses  ready,  and  take  them 
to  the  other  side  of  the  ridge  beyond  the  bees'  nest, 
and  wait  there  till  I  come.'  I  took  the  Bushmen  to 
the  nest,  and  they  all  at  once  began  in  great  haste 
to  work  their  way  into  the  rocks,  to  get  the  honey; 
finally,  one  of  them  drew  out  a  fine  piece  of  comb, 
full  of  honey,  and  I  ran  up  and  snatched  it,  and 
began  to  eat.  They  looked  at  me,  and  began  to 
mutter,  but  said  I,  '  Dig  away,  you'll  find  plenty  of 
honey  in  there,'  so  they  went  to  work  with  greater 
eagerness  than  ever,  while  I  began  to  walk  back- 
wards and  forwards,  eating  a  little  honey,  and  hum- 
ming a  tune,  watching  my  opportunity.  While  their 
attention  was  taken  in  their  scramble,  each  trying 
to  get  his  full  share  of  the  honey,  I  got  out  of  sight, 
and  ran  for  life.  The  horses  were  ready,  and  we  put 
them  up  to  their  best  speed  for  about  thirty  miles. 
In  almost  utter  exhaustion,  we  then  off-saddled  and 
knee-haltered  our  horses,  and  half-buried  ourselves 
in  the  sand  and  soon  fell  asleep. 

"  We  had  not  been  long  asleep,  as  I  afterwards 
found,  when  I  was  awakened  by  something  cold 
touching  my  toe.  It  was  a  bright  moonlight  night, 
and  I  instantly  recognized  the  dog  of  those  Bushmen 
smelling  my  feet,  but  was  glad  to  see  him  trot  away 
without  barking  at  us.  I  shook  Jim,  and  whispered 
to  him  to  keep  a  sharp  look  out,  but  not  to  move  a 
muscle  unless  attacked.     In  a  few  minutes  I  heard 


GOVERNMENT   FARM.  185 

our  pursuers  run  past,  but  a  few  rods  distant  from 
lis.  They  lost  their  scent,  we  took  another  direc- 
tion, and  saw  them  no  more."  This  is  one  of  many- 
tales  I  heard  by  the  way,  which  I  relate  to  illustrate 
the  adventures  of  pioneer  life  in  South  Africa. 

Rev.  John  Edwards,  Superintendent  of  Somerset 
Circuit,  met  me  at  Bedford,  and  drove  me  hence, 
nearly  forty  miles,  in  his  "  cart-and-four,"  to  his 
own  house  in  Somerset.  Brother  Edwards  was  sent 
as  a  missionary  to  Africa  in  1831,  and  has  had  a 
great  variety  of  missionary  life  in  the  English, 
Dutch,  and  Kaffir  work  on  the  frontier,  and  the 
Bechuana  work  in  the  interior. 

Somerset  was  visited  by  Rev.  "Wm.  Shaw  as 
early  as  1822,  on  the  invitation  of  E.  Hart,  Esq., 
who  had  been  an  officer  of  the  Cape  regiment,  a 
good  man,  and  though  aged,  still  lives  near  Somerset, 
and  takes  a  great  interest  in  the  work  of  God.  At 
that  early  day  Somerset  was  simply  a  Government 
farm,  under  the  superintendency  of  Mr.  Hart,  to 
raise  supplies  for  the  frontier  troops,  but  when  the 
general  farming  interests  of  the  colony  were  suffi- 
ciently developed  to  supply  this  demand,  the  farm 
was  converted  into  a  township.  The  district  of 
Somerset  now  has  a  population  of  10,022,  of  which 
3,784  are  Europeans.  The  village  has  probably  one- 
third  of  the  whole  population  of  the  district.  The 
Wesleyan  chapel,  for  the  whites,  had  recently  been 
enlarged  to  double  its  former  size,  by  the  addition  of 
a  transept  as  large  as  the  old  chapel ;  altogether  it 


186  SOMERSET   EAST. 

»vill  now  scat  over  three  hundred  and  fifty.  The 
native  chapel  is  about  the  same  size.  Our  cause 
among  the  whites  there  was  considered  very  feeble. 
The  circuit  is  geographically  very  extensive.  Brother 
Edwards  keeps  four  good  horses  to  enable  him  to  do 
the  travelling  work  necessary,  and  our  cause  was  said 
to  be  much  stronger  in  the  country  than  in  the  town. 
Indeed  Brother  Edwards  told  me  at  the  start  that  he 
had  but  two  white  members  in  town,  besides  his  wife, 
wrho  could  pray  in  public,  so  our  prospect  for  a  work 
wras  not  very  bright.  On  Sabbath  I  preached  three 
sermons,  and  collected  £23  towards  the  late  enlarge- 
ment of  the  chapel.  We  had  two  services  for  the 
whites  on  Monday.  One  day  service  for  natives  on 
Tuesday,  preaching  to  wrhites  at  night.  Preached 
twice  to  the  whites  on  Wednesday.  Preached  for 
the  natives  on  Thursday,  lectured  on  Thursday  night, 
and  left  early  on  Friday  morning. 

A  number  of  persons  had  come  fifty,  and  others 
seventy,  miles  to  attend  the  meetings.  Among  them 
wras  a  Mr.  Nash,  from  "  Ebenezer,"  fifty  miles  dis- 
tant. He  was  a  good  farmer,  a  kind-hearted  man, 
with  an  interesting  family,  but  I  was  told  that  he 
was  given  to  drink,  so  that  his  life  and  all  that  he 
had  were  in  jeopardy.  He  called  to  see  me  on 
Saturday  evening  soon  after  my  arrival.  Said  he,  "  I 
never  would  have  thought  of  coming  to  this  meeting 
but  for  Hon.  Mr.  Burch,  of  Uitenhage.  He  used 
to  be  my  neighbour  before  his  removal  to  Uitenhage, 
and  recently  he  was  in  our  neighbourhood,  and  was 


INFLUENTIAL   TESTIMONY   OP    MR.    IVURCH.       187 

telling  myself  and  others  about  your  preaching  in 
Uitenhage,  and  what  surprised  us  most  was  that  he 
said  that  he  had  found  the  pardon  of  all  his  sins  at 
your  meeting.  We  thought  it  was  a  wonderful 
thing.  "We  knew  that  Burch  was  not  a  man  to  be 
deceived  in  such  a  matter,  and  that  he  would  not 
lie ;  indeed,  we  could  all  see  that  there  was  a  won- 
derful change  in  him.  He  begged  us  to  attend  your 
meeting  here,  and  we  have  come.  I  am  a  dreadful 
sinner,  and  I  can  see  no  hope  for  me,  but  still,  when 
such  a  man  as  Burch  finds  peace  with  God,  I  don't 
see  why  anybody  need  despair."  I  was  pleased  with 
his  honest  simplicity  and  earnestness. 

He  attended  all  the  services,  but  did  not  yield  till 
Wednesday,  when  he  surrendered  to  God,  accepted 
Christ,  and  was  saved.  Nearly  all  those  who  came 
so  far,  through  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Burch,  went 
home  happy  in  God. 

At  each  native  service  the  chapel  was  crowded 
I  was  greatly  favoured  in  having  Siko  Radas, 
from  Heald  Town,  to  interpret  for  me.  He  was  hav- 
ing holiday  during  his  vacation,  and  spent  it  in 
riding  nearly  eighty  miles  on  his  own  hired  horse  to 
help  me  at  Somerset,  and  thence  eighty  miles  to 
Cradock  to  help  me  there.  We  had  not  such  a 
mass  of  people  to  preach  to  in  those  towns  as  at 
Heald  Town,  but,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  we 
had  a  blessed  harvest  of  souls.  At  the  two  native 
services  in  Somerset,  over  fifty  natives  were  examined 
bv  their  minister,  Brother  Edwards,  and  reported 


188  SOMERSET    EAST. 

converted  to  God.  Over  twenty-five  whites  were 
saved  at  our  series  for  them.  In  a  letter  from  Bro- 
ther Edwards,  written  the  following  week,  he  says, 
"  On  Sunday  July  31st,  both  at  the  preaching  and 
at  the  prayer-meeting  in  the  evening,  the  power  of 
God  the  Spirit  was  graciously  ?nrXiifested  in  a  way 
I  never  felt  before.  A  great  concern  is  found  among 
the  English  families;  many  have  yielded,  others  are 
deeply  awakened.  Many  natives  belonging  to  other 
churches  have  found  peace.  They  will  be  lost  to  us, 
but  not  to  God.  The  young  converts  are  happy, 
and  are  working  well ;  among  others,  none  more  so 
than  my  son  Walter.  To  God  be  the  praise.  Fully 
one  hundred  have  found  peace."  In  another  letter 
from  Brother  Edwards,  four  months  later,  he  says, 
"  Most  glad  to  hear  from  you,  and  of  the  prosperity 
of  God's  work.  God  hath  blessed  us  much  here. 
Those  brought  in  remain  steadfast.  Mr.  Nash  is  a 
miracle  of  grace,  he  holds  on  his  way,  and  is  very 
happy." 

Among  many  missionary  stories  related  to  me  by 
Brother  Edwards,  I  will  record  one,  as  it  will  illus- 
trate several  facts  in  connection  with  missionary  life 
and  adventure  in  Africa.  Many  years  ago  the 
natives  of  three  mission  stations,  with  their  mission- 
aries, Mr.  Edwards  being  one  of  them,  went  in  search 
of  a  new  home.  They  travelled  about  a  thousand 
miles  before  they  found  a  suitable  place,  and  hence 
the  establishment  of  our  missions  in  the  Free  State 
in  the  "  Bechuana  District,"  which  was  first  esta- 


ONE   OF  THE    "  LESSER    PROPHETS.  "  189 

blislied  by  Messrs.  Jenkins,  Edwards,  and  others. 
The  following  narrative  is  from  Brother  Edwards'a 
own  pen,  written  at  my  request.  "  Previously  to  the 
year  1830,  there  was  a  great  slaughter  among  tho 
native  tribes  living  in  the  north.  Owing  to  their 
making  war -with  one  another,  whole  native  towna 
were  depopulated.  Those  who  escaped  fled  for  their 
lives,  and  wandered  they  knew  not  whither.  Among 
them  was  a  lad  who  found  his  way  into  Basuto 
country  "  (the  Basutos  are  the  people  under  Moshesh, 
whom  the  Dutch  of  the  Free  State  have  been  fight- 
ing for  several  years).  "After  many  days  of  lonely 
wandering,  living  on  pumpkin-peelings,  found  in  the 
deserted  huts  of  the  depopulated  country  through 
which  he  passed,  he  fell  in  with  Sikonyele's  tribe,  called 
the  Mantatees.  They  looked  upon  him  as  a  poor 
little  thing,  and  treated  him  roughly,  as  a  refugee. 
After  being  there  for  some  time,  he  told  the  chief 
men  of  the  tribe  that  he  had  a  vision  to  make  known 
to  them,  which  was,  that  a  large  army  would  come 
down  upon  them  from  the  north,  destroy  many  of 
them,  and  take  their  cattle.  Most  of  them  paid  no 
attention  to  his  revelation,  but  said,  '  Who  can  con- 
quer us  ?  '  It  was  a  tribe  at  that  time  strong,  war- 
like, rich  in  cattle,  and  proud.  Not  long  after,  how- 
ever, there  came  down  from  the  north  some  hostile 
tribes,  which  robbed  them  of  the  most  of  their  cattle, 
and  destroyed  many  of  their  people. 

"  Then  many  of  them  began  to  believe  in  their 
little  refugee  prophet.      Some  time  after  that,  the 


190  SOMERSET   EAST. 

boy  said  he  had  another  vision  to  make  known  to 
them  Some  were  opposed  to  hearing  him ;  how- 
ever, he  told  them  that  another  attack  would  be 
made  upon  them  by  another  sort  of  people.  A 
copper-coloured  people,  on  horses,  having  guns  to 
fight  with,  would  come  upon  them,  and  would  take 
away  their  goats  and  sheep,  and  many  of  their 
children,  and  would  kill  many  people.  Not  long 
after  a  lot  of  "  Corannas  "  (Hottentot  bastards,  who, 
being  so  long  among  the  Dutch,  had  learned  the  use 
fire-arms,  and  were  well-supplied  with  guns),  "came 
and  did  just  as  the  boy  had  described.  These  two 
attacks  reduced  the  Mantatees  much,  and  brought 
them  into  a  state  of  great  humiliation  and  fear. 
Again  the  prophet  boy  gave  notice  that  he  had  re- 
ceived another  vision,  and  had  something  to  tell 
them.  They  were  now  all  anxious  to  hear  what  he 
had  to  say.  Then  he  told  them  that  '  a  large  lot  of 
people  will  come  into  the  country  to  reside.  They 
will  not  come  to  fight  or  destroy.  They  are  men  of 
peace,  and  will'  bring  good  tidings.  There  will  be 
among  them  men  dressed  in  black  clothes,  but  men 
of  peace.'  They  all  listened  attentively,  and  asked 
him  what  more  he  had  to  tell  them  ?  '  No  more/ 
said  he,  '  but  only  to  listen  to  what  the  men  of  peace 
will  tell  you/  Shortly  after  that,"  continues  Mr. 
Edwards,  "  we  arrived  in  that  country  with  the  people 
of  three  stations,  in  all  about  twelve  thousand  souls, 
under  the  care  of  three  missionaries.  We  were  after- 
wards told  that  if  we  had  gone  into  that  country, 


BAPTISM   OF   DANIEL,    THE    PROPHET.  191 

while  the  Mantatees  were  in  their  pride  and  pros- 
perity, not  one  of  us  would  have  escaped  death. 
Here  we  saw  the  hand  of  God.  That  prophet  lad 
was  one  of  our  first  converts  to  Christ,  and  I  bap- 
tized him,  Daniel,  not  knowing  then  that  he  had  been 
such  a  prophet  aforetime.  The  boy  remained  stead- 
fast in  the  faith. 

"  The  Mantatees  had  no  correct  idea  of  God ;  but 
believed  that  a  great  Being  lived  above,  to  them  un- 
seen, whom  they  called  '  Morinio' — '  Mo  ' — him— 
*  rimo '  above — Him  above." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

CRADOCK. 

On  Friday,  the  29  th  of  June,  Mr.  Sargent,  brothet 
to  Rev.  W.  Sargent,  one  of  the  principal  Wesleyans 
in  Somerset,  drove  me,  in  company  with  his  wife, 
from  Somerset,  forty  miles  on  my  way  towards  Cra- 
dock  to  "  Dagga  Boer."  We  spent  the  night,  and 
preached  at  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Trollip.  The 
Trollip  family  is  a  very  old  and  numerous  family, 
very  well-to-do,  respectable,  and  everywhere  known 
as  Wesleyans,  though  not  all  saved  as  yet.  We 
were  hospitably  entertained  at  Mr.  John  Trollip's  for 
the  night,  and  took  breakfast  with  his  aged  parents 
in  a  separate  house  on  the  same  premises.  They 
have  had  their  share  of  the  sweet  and  the  bitter  of 
old  pioneers  in  a  new  country.  In  their  family 
burying-ground,  surrounded  by  a  stone  wall,  I  read 
on  a  tombstone  the  following  : — "  Sacred  to  the  me- 
mory of  Henry  Trollip,  aged  twenty-eight  years 
two  months  and  ten  days  ;  and  his  brother  Edward, 
aged  nineteen  years  and  five  days,  sons  of  William 
Trollip,  who,  on  returning  home  were  waylaid  and 
shot  by  a  band  of  rebel  Hottentots,  on  the  31st  of 


KliBEL    HOTTENTOTS.  193 

December,  1851.  'They  were  lovely  and  pleasant 
in  their  lives,  and  in  their  death  they  were  not 
divided.'     2  Samuel  i.  23." 

These  were  John's  brothers,  and  sons  of  the 
honourable  aged  pair,  at  whose  board  we  were  enter- 
tained. Their  bereavement  but  illustrates  the  be- 
reavement of  many  in  the  colony,  and  explains,  in 
part,  the  deep,  but  not  very  discriminating,  pre- 
judice of  the  white  colonists  against  the  natives. 
The  murderers  of  those  young  men  belonged  to 
a  colony  of  highly  favoured  Hottentots,  settled 
on  lands  ceded  to  them  by  the  Government, 
near  the  "  Kat  Mountains."  Unlike  the  Fin  goes, 
who  have  always  been  true  to  the  Government,  in 
the  Kaffir  War  of  1851,  these  Hottentots  rebelled, 
and  did  great  damage  to  the  colonial  cause,  and 
greater  damage  still  to  their  own.  The  repeated 
Kaffir  wars  have  done  much  to  deepen  prejudice 
against  the  blacks,  still  it  should  be  remembered  that 
they  claimed  to  be  the  original  owners  of  the  soil, 
and  that  they  were  heathens,  and  knew  nothing  of 
what  Europeans  consider  the  honourable  modes  of 
conducting  wars,  and  killing  people ;  but  whatever 
the  conduct  of  those  heathen  warriors,  it  does  not 
justify  an  indiscriminate  bitter  hatred  of  the  race, 
which  has  operated  seriously  against  the  success  of 
the  Gospel  among  them,  and  the  raising  up  of  na- 
tive missionaries.  This  prejudice,  to  be  sure,  is  not 
universal,  but  very  general,  and  very  outspoken. 

It  usually  breaks  out  in  declamation  about  the  in- 


JP4 


CKADOCK. 


efficiency  and  dishonesty  of  native  servants  and  then 
goes  off  into  general  charges,  such  as  "they  are  a  nation 
of  thieves,"  "  they  won't  work  ;•"  "you'll  never  make 
anything  out  of  them,"  and  so  on.  I  have  often  replied 
to  such  charges  against  the  servants,  by  saying,  1st. 
"The  better  class  of  Fingoes  and  Kaffirs  have  their 
own  cattle,  and  comfortable  homes,  and  don't  go  into 
service.  Those  who  know  them  well,  say  they  are 
industrious,  honest,  and  many  of  them  as  consistent 
Christians  as  can  be  found  among  the  whites.  2nd. 
Good  servants  get  a  good  situation  and  keep  it.  I 
have  met  many  such  in  South  Africa,  whose 
masters  say,  'they  never  have  much  trouble  with 
them,  and  they  can  trust  them  with  anything  they 
have.  It  is  a  notorious  fact,  that  if  you  entrust, 
even  a  Kaffir  thief,  with  your  property  to  the 
amount  of  even  thousands  of  pounds,  and  let  hira 
see  that  you  have  faith  in  him,  you  may  go  away 
where  you  like,  and  take  your  pleasure  or  your  rest, 
and  be  sure  that  your  Kaffir  servant  will  faithfully 
attend  to  your  interests.  3rd.  The  coloured  servants 
so  often  in  the  market,  and  changing  continually, 
from  whom  you  get  your  grounds  of  complaint  against 
native  servants  in  general,  and  against  the  mission- 
stations,  because,  as  wandering  refugees,  they  may 
have  found  quarters  there  for  a  time,  are  just  like  a 
thriftless  class  of  servants  to  be  found  in  all  countries, 
and  of  all  nationalities.  'Tis  said  that  a  gentleman  once 
inquired  of  Dr.  Adam  Clarke  if  he  could  tell  him 
where    he    could    get    a    good   English    servant? 


PREJUDICE   AGAINST   THE    NATIVES.  10U 

"  Why,"  replied  the  Doctor,  "I  have  been  praying 
to  the  Lord  for  three  weeks  to  send  me-  one,  and  I 
do  believe  if  He  had  one  out  of  a  situation,  He 
would  have  answered  my  prayers  before  this  time." 

While  proper  vigilance  should  be  maintained  to 
prevent  the  organization  of  seditious  bodies  of  natives, 
everything  possible  should  be  done  to  Christianize 
all  classes  of  them,  develop  their  manhood,  and  fully 
ally  the  best  interests  of  both  the  Europeans  and 
natives.  The  missionaries  alone  cannot  do  all  that 
work,  they  need  the  intelligent,  discriminating  moral 
power  of  all  good  colonists  to  aid  them. 

Rev.  W.  Chapman,  Superintendent  of  Cradock 
Circuit,  met  me  at  Mr.  John  Trollip's,  and  drove  me 
in  his  cart  and  pair,  through  a  gale  of  wind  and 
blinding  clouds  of  dust,  a  distance  of  about  forty 
miles  to  Cradock.  Brother  Chapman  spent  a 
number  of  years  in  the  mission- work,  in  that  charnel- 
field  of  martyr  missionaries — the  West  Coast  of 
Africa.  .  When  his  health  failed  there,  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  South  Africa,  where  he  recovered  his  health, 
and  has  for  some  years  wrought  succesfully  as  a 
missionar}r. 

Cradock  is  located  near  the  Great  Fish  River, 
550  miles  east  of  Cape  Town,  and  107  north-west  of 
Graham's  Town,in  afine  sheep-growing  country  of  ex- 
tensive valleys  end  mountains.  The  mountains  do  not 
rise  in  regular  ranges,  but  stand  out  in  every  direction, 
clearly  defined  in  the  peculiarly  transparent  atmosphere 
of  mat  region,  in  isolated  grandeur.     Huge  granite 


1&6  CRADOCK. 

mountains  with  many  perpendicular  lines,  especially 
near  their  summits,  shaped  like  the  roof  and  gable- 
ends  of  a  house,  yet  rising  to  an  altitude  of  six  or  seven 
thousand  feet.  Cradock  was  originally  established 
as  the  seat  of  a  magistracy,  and.  certre  of  a  large 
district  of  wealthy  Dutch  farmers.  Rev.  John  Taylor, 
the  Dutch  Reformed  Minister  there.,  has  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  a  very  liberal  and  useful  man.  The 
town  has  grown  up  to  a  place  of  considerable  com- 
mercial importance.  The  population  of  the  district 
amounts  to  an  aggregate  of  12,136,  of  whom  5,845 
are  whites ;  a  good  sprinkling  of  these  are  English. 
"  Rev.  Thornly  Smith  was  the  first  resident  Wesleyan 
minister  appointed  to  Cradock,  which  was  in  1842. 
He  was  soon  succeeded  by  Rev.  John  Edwards,  who 
could  preach  in  both  Dutch  and  English.  The  first 
Wesleyan  chapel  there  was  built  in  1842.  That  was 
subsequently  given  to  the  Kaffirs,  and  the  present 
commodious  chapel,  with  sittings  for  about  500,  was 
built  under  the  superintendency  of  Rev..  Gt.  H. 
Green." 

Our  party,  consisting  of  Brother  Chapman  and 
son,  Brother  and  Sister  Sargent,  Siko  Radas  and 
myself,  arrived  a  little  before  sunset.  Our  first 
business  was  to  dispose  of  our  surplus  "  real  estate/' 
in  the  form  of  a  very  uncomfortable  accumulation  of 
dust,  completely  covering  our  persons  and  baggage. 
I  then  paid  my  respects  to  a  good  ham  of  venison, 
well-prepared  by  good  Sister  Chapman,  and  was 
after  dinner  conducted  to  my  Cradock  home,  in  the 


HON.    HENRY   TUCKER. 


10' 


family  of  Hon.  Henry  Tucker,  M.L.C.  I  found 
there  most  comfortable  quarters,  through  the 
kindness  of  Brother  and  Sister  Tucker.  Though  a 
merchant  and  a  politician,  I  found  Brother  Tucker 
to  be  a  thorough  and  active  teetotaller,  the  super- 
intendent of  our  Sabbath-school,  and  an  earnest 
Christian.  The  cause  of  total  abstinence  had  a 
stronger  hold  in  Cradock,  than  in  any  South  African 
town  I  visited,  and,  as  a  consequence,  we  had  no  dis- 
order in  the  streets,  nor  about  the  doors  of  our  chapel, 
and  a  larger  proportion  of  the  people  were  prepared 
'soberly  to  wait  on  God  under  our  Gospel  ministrations, 
and  hence  a  proportionately  large  number  of  them 
were  converted  to  God  during  our  series.  Being 
i "  drunk  with  wine,"  instead  of  being  "  filled  with  the 
Spirit/'  is  one  of  the  greatest  hindrances  to  the  success 
of  the  Gospel.  Many  of  our  ministers  in  South  Africa 
have  waked  up  to  this  fact,  and  for  the  sake  of  their 
influence  upon  society  in  this  matter,  have  become 
total  abstainers.  Hon.  Mr.  Tucker  gave  me  the 
following  melancholy  instance  of  the  damaging  effect 
of  a  tippling  minister's  example.  "A  hotel-keeper  in 
Graham's  Town,  was  greatly  addicted  to  the  use  of 
spirits.  I  laboured  with  him,  and  had  him  on  the 
eve  of  becoming  a  teetotaller.  He  had  given  up  the 
use  of  it  for  weeks,  and  I  finally  believed  that  I 
would  succeed  in  saving  him.  He  was  a  genial  good- 
Iiearted  fellow,  I  was  boarding  with  him  during  the 
session  of  Parliament — its  only  session  in  Graham's 
Town — and  I  felt  a  great  interest  in  him,  on  his  own 


198  CRADOCK. 

account,  and  on  account  of  his  family.  But  just  at 
the  time,  when  I  thought  my  efforts  were  about  to 
be  permanently  successful,  a  minister  came  in  and 
dined  with  us,  and  at  the  dinner-table  he  held  up  a 
glass  of  spirits,  and,  in  quite  a  little  speech,  expatiated 
on  it,  as  one  of  the  good  gifts  of  God  to  be  enjoyed 
by  His  creatures,  and  then  drank  it.  The  next 
morning  I  made  some  remark  to  my  landlord  about 
the  danger  of  drink,  and  he  replied  abruptly: 
1  Mr.  Tucker,  I  don't  wish  you  to  speak  to  me  again 
on  this  subject,  after  the  eloquent  remarks  of  Rev. 

Mr. ,  yesterday.     I  see  now  clearly  that  it  is  all 

right  to  use  it,  as  a  good  gift  of  God  to  be  enjoyed/ 
In  two  weeks  from  that  day  he  died  in  delirium 
tremens." 

I  believe  Brother  Tucker  has  been  the  means  of 
saving  a  number  of  men  from  a  similar  end,  and  in 
his  position  of  life,  his  example  and  active  labours 
tend  greatly  to  promote  the  temperance  movement  in 
South  Africa.  I  was  pleased  to  meet  some  of  my 
Graham's  Town  friends  in  Cradock,  who  had  come  to 
attend  the  meetings — Hon.  Samuel  Cawood,  M.L.C., 
who  rendered  us  good  service  in  our  prayer- 
meetings,  and  Messrs.  John  and  Wm.  Webb,  and 
others. 

I  commenced  my  work  in  Cradock  on  Sabbath 
morning  the  31st  of  June.  My  first  service  was  to 
preach  to  the  Kaffirs,  through  Siko  Radas,  at  seven, 
a.m.  There  was  a  gracious  moving  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  but  we  had  no  time  for  a  prayer-meeting. 


PREACHING   TO   HUTCH   NATIVES.  199 

I  preached  to  the  whites  at  eleven  a.m.,  three  p.m., 
and  half-past  six  in  the  evening.  We  had  the  altai 
crowded  with  seekers,  and  twelve  persons  professed 
to  find  peace  with  God  at  our  first  prayer-meeting. 
Had  two  successful  services  for  the  whites,  Monday, 
at  eleven  a.m.,  and  seven  p.m.  On  Tuesday,  at 
eleven  a.m.,  1  preached  to  the  Dutch-speaking 
natives.  About  one-half  the  natives  of  Cradock 
speak  Kaffir,  and  the  other  half  Dutch,  making  it 
necessary  to  have  two  native  chapels,  and  separate 
services  in  each  language. 

Mr.  H.  Park,  a  discharged  old  soldier,  and  Dutch 
interpreter  in  the  magistrates'  court  there,  was  my 
interpreter.  The  language  is  not  nearly  so  eupho- 
nious as  the  Kaffir,  but  I  was  interested  in  marking 
its  near  relationship  to  the  English.  Our  principal 
difficulty  on  that  occasion  was  the  want  of  room  to 
accommodate  the  multitude  who  wished  to  hear. 
During  our  prayer-meeting,  after  the  preaching,  over 
thirty  persons  gave  their  names  as  new  converts  to 
Jesus.  On  Tuesday  night,  and  Wednesday,  at  eleven 
a.m.,  and  seven  p.m.,  preached  to  the  whites,  fol- 
lowed in  each  case  by  a  prayer-meeting,  and  the 
salvation  of  souls.  On  Wednesday  nisrht,  during 
the  prayer-meeting,  Mr.  Wm.  Webb,  who  had  come 
from  Graham's  Town  to  attend  our  meeting,  and 
who  had  been  forward  a  number  of  times  as  a  seeker, 
was  suddenly  delivered  from  the  power  of  darkness, 
and  translated  into  the  kingdom  of  Jesus.  He  arose 
and  addressed  the  audience,  testifying  very  intelli- 


200  CRADOCK. 

gently  and  clearly  that,  after  forty- six  years  of  rebel- 
lion against  God,  he  had  now  obtained  reconciliation 
and  unspeakable  joy. 

When  we  had  sufficient  time  at  command,  we 
often  gave  the  young  converts  an  opportunity  to 
testify  publicly,  and  rising  one  after  another,  they 
witnessed  distinctly  to  the  facts  in  their  experience, 
demonstrating  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  saving 
power  of  Jesus  in  their  own  hearts.  Many  doubting 
ones  have  thus  been  convinced,  and  led  to  decision 
for  God. 

It  was  arranged  that  I  should  preach  again  to  the 
natives  on  Thursday,  but  their  new  chapel,  which 
will  seat  between  four  and  five  hundred,  was  not 
ready,  and  it  was  finally  announced  that  I  should 
preach  to  the  natives  and  whites  together  in  the 
court,  back  of  the  mission-house. 

At  eleven  a.m.  the  heterogeneous  mass  nearly  filled 
the  court.  We  take  our  stand  on  the  back  verandah 
of  the  mission-house.  The  court  is  bounded  on  our 
left  by  a  wall,  in  front,  by  a.  carriage-house,  and  the 
garden  fence,  on  the  right,  by  the  stables  and  a 
wall,  altogether  affording  almost  as  good  protection 
from  outside  intrusion,  if  the  danger  of  such  had 
existed,  as  the  sacred  precincts  of  a  church.  The 
central  group  of  our  audience  is  composed  of  Kaffirs 
and  Hottentots  of  every  colour,  and  of  every 
variety  of  native  costume.  They  have  brought  their 
sleeping-mats,  each  about  three  feet  wide  and  six  in 
length,  and  have  spread  them  out  to  sit  and  kneel 


GOSPEL  PREACHED  IN  THREE  LANGUAGES  AT  ONCE.    201 

on.  Many  of  them  are  seated  ou  benches  provided 
for  them,  but  many  more  are  down  on  their  mats. 
Next,  in  a  massed  circle  and  in  scattered  groups,  we 
see  all  classes  of  the  whites.  Brother  Park  stands 
ready  to  put  my  sermon  into  the  Dutch  language, 
but  we  see  so  many  Kaffirs  in  the  audience,  who 
know  neither  English  or  Dutch,  that  we  say  u  Poor 
souls,  can't  we  have  another  interpreter?  I  wish 
we  had  Siko  Radas  here,  but  he  has  gone  back  to  his 
school."  "  There's  a  Kaffir  here  just  up  from  Port 
Elizabeth,  called  Jack,  who  can  speak  English/'  said 
Brother  Chapman,  "but  I  don't  know  whether  he 
can  interpret."  "  Jack,  come  here,  my  man,"  said  I, 
and  up  came  a  black  Kaffir,  about  five  feet  eight,  very 
plainly  dressed,  wearing  an  old  straw-hat.  "  Brother 
Jack,"  said  I,  "can  you  put  my  words  into  Kaffir?" 
"Yes,  sir,"  replied  Jack.  "Brother  Park  will  put  them 
into  Dutch,  and  you  will  follow  him,  and  put  each 
sentence  into  Kaffir  just  as  you  would  talk  to  them 
about  shearing  sheep."  I  had  no  time,  under  this 
extemporized  arrangement,  to  give  Jack  my  sermon 
privately,  as  I  was  in  the  habit  of  doing  for  my 
interpreters,  but  proceeded  at  once  to  business.  The 
three  of  us  stood  side  by  side,  Park  close  to  my 
right,  and  Jack  next.  I  gave  every  sentence  in  a 
clear  but  condensed  form,  and  for  over  an  hour  the 
piercing  light  and  melting  power  of  the  Gospel 
flowed  out  through  the  medium  of  three  languages  at 
once,  without  the  break  of  a  single  blunder  or  a 
moment's   hesitation.      Men,  women,  and  children 


202  CRADOCK. 

weep,  and  I  doubt  not  angels  gaze  and  rejoice. 
At  the  close  of  the  preaching  we  invited  all  who 
wish  to  surrender  to  God  and  accept  Christ  to  "  kneel 
before  the  Lord  *  at  once.  Scores  of  the  Kaffirs  kneel 
down  on  their  mats,  with  cries  and  streaming  tears. 
The  whites,  with  no  such  provision,  go  down  on  their 
knees  in  the  dust,  bench  after  bench  is  crowded  with 
them,  and,  ah !  what  a  scene  ensued. 

"While  I  was  without,  pointing  these  struggling 
souls  to  Jesus,  Brother  Chapman  came  to  me, 
saying,  "  Brother  Taylor,  will  you  please  come 
into  the  house  and  speak  to  a  woman  in  despair  ? 
She  is  a  very  clever,  influential  woman,  and  will 
make  a  noble  Christian  if  she  is  saved ;  but  she  says 
her  day  of  grace  is  gone,  and  that  nothing  remains 
for  her  but  the  blackness  of  darkness  for  ever."  I 
go  and  find  her  in  a  sad  state  of  mind,  to  be  sure, 
but  after  some  time  we  get  her  composed,  so  as  to 
converse  and  reason  on  the  subject,  and  convince  her 
that  this  dreadful  discovery  of  extreme  heart  wicked- 
ness is  the  result  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  awakening 
mercy.  "  Though  you  can  see  no  way  of  escape,  my 
dear  sister,  God  sees  the  way  of  salvation  open  for 
you,  and  the  proof  of  that  is  the  fact  that  He  has 
sent  His  Spirit  to  show  you  your  bondage,  and  lead 
you  to  Jesus.  Now  if  you  consent  to  surrender  your- 
self to  God,  consent  that  He  take  your  case  in  hand, 
and  do  with  you  as  He  wishes,  take  from  you  all 
your  sins,  impose  on  you  whatever  is  right,  you  may 
at  once  accept  Christ  as  your  Saviour.     God  hath 


HOW   A   WOMAN    WAS   SAVED.  203 

sent  Him  into  the  world  to  save  sinners — even  the 
chief  of  sinners.  That  was  His  business  when  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh ;  that  is  His  business  through  His 
invisible  Spirit  now,  as  really  as  then.  God  oifers 
Him  to  you  in  His  Gospel  as  your  Saviour,  the  Holy 
Spirit  presents  Him  at  the  door  of  your  heart  as 
your  Saviour.  He  is  knocking  at  the  door.  Now 
you  will  accept  Him,  and  be  saved  by  Him,  or  reject 
Him  and  perish.  Accept  Him  now  by  faith.  It  is 
not  presumption,  but  confidence  in  God's  most  reliable 
record  concerning  His  Son.  If  what  God  says  about 
Him  is  true,  then  Christ  is  worthy  of  your  confidence, 
and  if  so,  why  not  receive  Him  now  ?  You  cannot  im- 
prove your  case  by  anything  you  ever  can  do,  and 
you  cannot  add  anything  to  God's  ransom,  and 
remedy;  then,  on  the  faith  of  God's  testimony,  receive 
Jesus  now  as  your  Saviour  from  sin.  You  must  say, 
*  I  accept  Him.  I  accept  Him  on  His  own  terms,  I 
accept  Him  on  God's  recommendation,  I  accept  Him 
now,  I  accept  Him' — say  it  till  your  heart  says  it, 
and  in  that  moment  God  will  justify  you  freely  by 
His  grace,  and  His  Holy  Spirit  will  bear  witness 
with  your  spirit  to  the  fact,  and  fill  your  heart  with 
His  pardoning  love."  Finally  she  began  to  say,  "  I 
accept  Christ,  I  accept  Him/'  and  in  a  few  moments 
she  received  the  witness  of  forgiveness,  and  was  filled 
with  "joy  unspeakable/'  and  oh,  how  she  wept  and 
talked  of  the  amazing  love  of  God.  My  Dutch  in- 
terpreter's wife  and  daughter  were  saved  that  day, 
and  a  large  number  of  whites,  Dutch,  and  Kaffirs. 


204  CRADOCK. 

I  have  given  but  an  inadequate  glance  at  the  scenes 
of  that  day. 

To  try  to  describe  any  of  those  occasions  of  the 
out-pourings  of  the  Spirit  at  different  places,  of  which 
I  have  been  speaking,  is  like  trying  to  describe  the 
lightnings  of  Heaven.  "When  we  say  we  witnessed 
a  grand  thunderstorm,  those  who  are  familiar  with 
such  scenes  know  what  we  mean,  but  it  cannot  be  put 
into  words,  nor  spread  upon  the  canvas,  so  when  we 
speak  of  hundreds  of  souls  bowed  before  God  in  peni- 
tential grief,  and  of  their  accepting  Christ,  and  then 
in  rapturous  joy  telling  of  their  deliverance,  those  who 
are  familiar  with  such  scenes  know  what  is  meant, 
"but  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  neither  can  he  know  them,  because 
they  are  spiritually  discerned."  A  lecture  on  Thurs- 
day-night closed  my  labours  in  Cradock.  Eev.  Mr. 
Chapman,  reported  over  seventy  whites,  and  over 
fifty  natives  converted  to  God,  during  our  series  of 
five  days.  By  a  letter  from  Brother  Chapman,  dated 
November  9th,  over  four  months  after  I  left,  I  learn 
that  the  work  of  God  in  Cradock  has  gone  steadily 
on,  with  increasing  power.  "After  you  left,"  he 
writes,  "  some  of  our  oldest  members  came  up  as 
seekers.  One  man,  near  eighty  years  old,  long  a 
member,  and  others  who  had  been  fifteen  or  twenty 
years  in  the  Church,  and  had  never  obtained  peace 
before.  I  believe  we  have  now  but  very  few  members 
without  this  blessing."  He  goes  on  to  give  me  tho 
names  of  many  whole  families  who  had  been  saved, 


GOOD    REPORT   OF   THE    WORK..  205 

and  were  walking  happily  in  the  light,  and  states 
that  up  to  the  time  of  writing,  the  number  of  converts 
among  the  whites  had  gone  up  to  about  "  150,  and 
about  160  coloured,"  making  an  aggregate  of  over 
300  souls  justified,  besides  a  number  wholly  sanctified 
to  the  Lord. 

My  next  field  was  Queen's  Iowa. 


CH>  PTER  XIV. 

QUEERS  TOWN. 

At  early  dawn  on  Friday  morning,  the  5th  of 
July,  I  was  seated  beside  Brother  Tucker,  my  host, 
in  his  splendid  carriage,  behind  his  two  fine  grey 
Arab  steeds,  en  route  for  Queen's  Town,  over  eighty 
miles  distant.  Brother  Tucker  accompanied  me 
thirty  miles  on  my  way,  where  we  dined  at  the  house 
of  his  brother,  and  I  bade  my  dear  friend  adieu.  Mr. 
Hines  was  in  waiting,  and  drove  me  that  afternoon 
twenty  miles  in  his  cart  and  four,  to  his  own  house 
in  the  village  of  "  Tarkisstaat."  The  Wesleyans  had 
a  small  chapel  there,  but  no  society.  The  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  being  a  little  more  central,  and 
having  been  kindly  offered  for  our  use,  I  preached 
that  night  in  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church.  "We  did 
not  hold  a  prayer-meeting,  but  a  respectable  citizen 
of  the  town,  Mr.  J.  F.,  called  next  morning  to  inform 
me  that,  after  preaching  the  night  before,  he  went 
home  and  wrestled  in  importunate  prayer,  till  he  was 
enabled  to  submit  to  God,  and  accept  Christ,  and  was 
made  happy  in  the  assurance  of  pardon. 

On    Saturday,    Mr.  Hines,   accompanied    by  hia 


REV.    H.    H.    DUGMORE.  207 

daughter  and  son,  drove  me  thirty -five  miles  to 
Queen's  Town,  where  I  put  up  at  the  house  of  the 
resident  Wesleyan  minister,  Rev.  H.  H.  Dugmore. 
Brother  Dugmore  is  one  of  the  old  pioneer  mission- 
aries of  Southern  Africa,  yet  of  colonial  production. 
He  is  a  minister  of  superior  abilities  in  the  pulpit, 
as  a  preacher,  in  his  sanctum  as  a  student  and 
writer,  in  the  social  circle  as  a  companion,  and 
musician,  playing  a  variety  of  musical  intruments. 
He  preaches  in  English,  Dutch,  and  Kaffir.  He  is 
considered  one  of  the  best  Kaffir  scholars  in  the 
country ;  has  translated  large  portions  of  the  Scrip- 
tures into  Kaffir,  and  is  the  author  of  the  most  and 
best  hymns  contained  in  our  Kaffir  Hymn  Book,  and 
sung  by  the  Kaffirs.  There  is  but  one  of  our  Wes- 
leyan hymns  in  the  Kaffir  language,  so  says  the  Rev. 
W.  Shepstone,  and  that  is  the  143rd,  "  Jesu,  lover  of 
my  soul."  Excellent  as  they  are  in  English,  they 
cannot  be  readily  made  to  fit  Kaffir  ideas  and 
idioms. 

Queen's  Town  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  beauti- 
ful and  fertile  district  of  country,  composed  of 
beautiful  vales,  extensive  plains,  and  sublime  moun- 
tains. It  was  formerly  occupied  by  bushmen  and 
Tembookie  Kaffirs,  but  after  the  war  of  1850-2,  it 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Government,  and  was  added 
to  the  colony.  The  "Wesleyans  for  many  years  before 
had  two  mission-stations  among  the  Tembookies  in 
that  district,  and  the  natives  of  those  stations  proving 
true  to  the  Government,  as  usual,  the  Governor,  Sir 


208  queen's  town. 

George  Cathcart,  allowed  them  to  remain  in  the  un- 
disturbed possession  of  their  lands,  on  which  we  now 
have  the  flourishing  mission-station  of  Lesseyton, 
eight  miles  distant  from  Queen's  Town,  and  Kama- 
stone,  twenty  miles  distant.  The  Government  gave  a 
good  lot  in  Queen's  Town  to  the  Wesleyans  for 
church  purposes.  A  church  and  "mission-house," 
were  soon  after  built,  and  a  Wesley  an  Society  orga- 
nized by  the  present  incumbent,  Rev.  H.  H.  Dug- 
more.  The  first  chapel,  near  the  mission-house,  has 
been  given  to  the  natives,  and  a  spacious  and  beauti- 
ful chapel,  more  centrally  located  in  the  town,  has 
been  erected  for  the  whites.  The  population  of  the 
district  amounts  to  an  aggregate  of  44,542,  but  3,632 
of  whom  are  Europeans.  The  white  residents  of 
Queen's  Town,  as  in  Graham's  Town,  are  nearly  all 
English. 

We  had  a  number  of  visitors  at  our  services  from 
different  parts  of  the  colony  ;  Messrs.  Shaw,  Barnes, 
Elliott,  and  others  recently  converted  to  God  at 
Fort  Beaufort,  were  tiiere,  and  rendered  us  good 
service.  Mr.  Shaw  is  a  Fort  Beaufort  merchant, 
who  has  since  become  an  Exhorter  and  Class-leader. 
Mr.  Elliott  was  the  said  hotel-keeper  who  gave  up 
his  "  canteen."  We  had  a  few  from  Graham's  Town, 
and  Mr.  Jakins,  from  Salem  Circuit,  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  distant. 

Brother  Jakins  is  an  old  pioneer  Wesleyan,  who 
has  been  very  useful,  I  am  told,  as  a  Local  Preacher 
for  many  years.     lie  called  on  me  soon  after  my 


THE   JAKIN    FAMILY.  209 

arrival  in  Graham's  Town,  and  said,  "  About  a  year 
ago  I  received  a  letter  from  my  sister  in  Launceston, 
Tasmania,  stating  that  she  and  her  two  sons  and  two 
daughters  had  found  peace  with  God,  and  had  united 
with  the  Wesleyan  Society,  at  a  series  of  meetings 
recently  held  in  their  town,  by  the  Rev.  William 
Taylor,  from  America,  and  gave  me  a  glowing 
account  of  a  wonderful  work  of  God  which  had 
spread  throughout  the  colony  of  Tasmania.  "When 
I  saw  your  name  announced  in  the  Cape  Town  papers, 
it  struck  me  that  you  must  be  the  same  minister 
mentioned  by  my  sister,  and  I  have  taken  the 
liberty  to  call  on  you  to  ascertain  whether  indeed 
that  is  so."  When  he  learned  that  he  had  thus 
strangely  enough  met  with  the  man  whom  God  had 
used  in  saving  his  dear  kindred  in  a  remote  colony  in 
the  Indian  Ocean,  he  wept  in  gratitude  before  God. 

At  our  Graham's  Town  series,  two  of  Brother 
Jakins'  daughters  and  a  son-in-law  were  saved, 
and  now  ho  had  come  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
to  attend  my  Queen's  Town  meeting,  with  the  hope 
of  seeing  his  two  sons,  who  are  farmers  in  that 
district,  brought  to  God.  He  did  us  good  service 
at  our  meetings,  and  had  the  happiness  of  seeing 
his  sons  happy  in  Jesus  before  he' returned.  "Now," 
said  he,  with  tearful  eyes,  "  I  will  have  joyful  tidings 
to  write  to  my  sister  in  Tasmania,  that  all  my  own 
family,  too,  have  been  converted  to  God  at  your 
meetings.'" 

Some  whole  families  were  saved  at  our  Queenfs 


210  queen's  town. 

Town  series,  and  many  sweet  surprises  and  affecting 
scenes  were  witnessed.  A  dear  mother  in  Israel, 
named  Turvey,  had  two  grown-up  sons,  both  uncon- 
verted, but  one  was  so  wild  in  his  career  of  sin  that 
she  almost  despaired  of  ever  having  him  brought  back 
to  God.  The  mother  had  brought  up  a  large 
family  of  children,  in  affliction  and  darkness,  for 
she  was  blind  and  had  not  seen  the  light  of  the  sun 
for  many  years.  She  was  a  real  daughter  of  sorrow, 
but  a  patient  Christian.  The  great  grief  of  her 
heart  was  her  prodigal  son. 

One  night  during  our  series,  a  brother  went  to  her, 
and  said,  "  Mrs.  Turvey,  your  son  is  at  the  altar  of 
prayer  among  the  seekers,  and  wants  you  to  come 
and  talk  to  him."  Her  gushing  tears  were  the  index 
to  the  unutterable  emotions  of  joy  and  grief  which 
thrilled  her  heart  as  she  exclaimed, 

"  Oh,  I  thank  God  that  my  dear  George  is 
coming  to  Jesus,  but  my  poor  prodigal !  I'm  afraid 
he'll  never  be  saved  !  "  She  was  then  conducted  to 
the  place,  and  feeling  her  way  down  to  her  penitent 
son,  she  cried,  "  O  George,  my  dear  son,  I'm  glad  to 
find  you  here  ;  but  poor  Edward !  Would  to  God,  he 
was  here  too  ! " 

"Mother/''  exclaimed  the  young  man,  "you  aro 
quite  mistaken,  it  is  not  George ;  I  am  indeed 
your  prodigal  son,  and  I  want  you  to  forgive 
me,  and  to  pray  that  God  will  forgive  me."  The 
prodigal  returned  that  night,  and  was  admitted  into 
the  royal  "  household  of  faith."     George,  who  had 


SEKMON   ON   THE    AMERICAN    TREACHER.        211 

always  been  a  comfort  to  his  mother,  was  not  saved 
till  the  following  week,  at  Kamastone,  when  the 
mother  got  the  joyful  news,  she  rode  twenty  miles  to 
Kamastone  to  greet  her  dear  son,  and  rejoice  with 
him  in  thanksgiving  to  the  God  of  the  orphan  and 
the  widow. 

Our  services  at  Queen's  Town  extended  through 
five  days,  from  the  8th  to  the  12th  of  July.  Three 
sermons  on  the  Sabbath,  and  two  each  week-day, 
except  Tuesday,  when  I  preached  at  Lesseyton. 
During  this  series  of  services,  about  one  hundred 
Europeans  were  reported  by  the  minister  as  new 
witnesses  for  Christ. 

My  next  field  of  labour  was  Kamastone.  On  the 
Sabbath  I  spent  at  Kamastone,  Hev.  H.  H.  Dugmore 
preached  a  sermon  in  his  own  pulpit,  from  the  text, 
"  Stand  still,  that  I  may  reason  with  you  before  the 
Lord."  The  subject  of  his  discourse,  singularly 
enough,  was  the — 

I.  The  American  preacher. 

II.  His  preaching. 

III.  Its  effects. 

He  was,  no  doubt,  prompted  to  deliver  such  a 
discourse,  by  the  active  efforts  of  a  clergyman  of  the 
town,  in  trying  to  prejudice  the  public  mind  against 
our  meetings,  and  more  especially  to  vindicate  and 
extend  the  work  of  God.  The  sermon  was  published 
by  Mr.  David  S.  Barrable,  of  Queen's  Town,  and  as 
I  was  leaving  the  colony,  a  few  months  afterwards,  a 
few  copies  were  sent  me.  In  glancing  over  it,  I  think 


212  queen's  town. 

a  few  extracts  from  the  "  third  division  "  will  serve 
to  illustrate  some  important  phases  of  the  work  of  God 
in  connection  with  our  series  of  services  there,  and 
generally  in  other  places. 

1.    ITS    EFFECTS. 

It  was  Awakening.  Some  thirty  or  forty  persons  came 
forward  on  the  first  evening,  to  request  the  prayers  of  the 
ministers  in  their  hehalf.  The  numhers  increased  on 
succeeding  evenings.  Now,  among  these  were  persons  of 
every  age,  from  ten  years  to  sixty.  There  were  the  married, 
as  well  as  the  unmarried,  fathers  and  mothers  of  families ; 
persons  constitutionally  calm  and  impassive,  as  well  as  those 
of  excitable  temperament.  There  were  persons  who  had  a 
strong  instinctive  horror  of  making  "  fools  of  themselves," 
persons  who  had  resisted  most  strenuously  their  own  peni- 
tential impulses — persons  who,  in  the  first  instance,  had 
swelled  the  ranks  of  the  revilers,  persons  who  knew  that 
the  penalty  of  their  procedure  would  be  the  ridicule  and 
scorn  of  their  former  associates,  persons  of  nearly  every 
social  grade  that  Queen's  Town  affords.  They  came  not 
under  the  impulse  of  terror,  for  nothing  had  been  said  to 
excite  it.  They  avowed  themselves  suddenly  made  sensible — 
vividly  and  sorrowfully  sensible — of  the  sinfulness  of  their 
hearts,  and  the  "  evil  of  their  ways."  I  ask,  could  the  grief 
of  such  persons  be  unreal  ?  "  But  so  much  of  the  feeling 
was  unnecessary."  (It  has  been  said).  The  feeling  was 
awakened  by  a  consciousness  of  having  violated  the  most 
sacred  of  obligations — those  of  duty  to  God.  Will  any  one 
dare  to  say  that  such  sorrow  ought  to  be  less  poignant  than, 
that  awakened  by  any  human  ills  ?  Is  deep-impassioned 
grief  allowable  when  earthly  sources  of  sorrow  are  opened, 
and  yet  not  to  be  warranted  when  the  "  exceeding  sinfulness 
of  sin  "  is  felt  ?     "  But  its  manifestation  was  violently  un- 


EFFECTS   OF   THE    REVIVAL.  213 

natural."  Let  us  look  at  the  facts.  I  stood  iu  the  midst 
of  forty  or  fifty  persons,  who  were  sorrowing  unto  repent- 
ance. I  did  so  from  evening  to  evening ;  and  this  is  my 
testimony  concerning  them.  The  grief  of  two-thirds  of  the 
number  was  silent  grief,  or  expressed  in  whispered  earnest- 
ness ;  of  the  rest,  one  half  wept  audibly,  and  a  few,  chiefly 
youths  from  the  country,  were  in  a  state  of  mental  distress 
still  more  loudly  manifested.  Now  was  there  anything  un- 
natural in  this  ?  Various  temperaments  were  variously 
affected.  Had  all  been  demonstrative  alike,  it  would  have 
supplied  a  plausible  objection. 

2.   THE    COMFORTING    EFFECTS. 

Most  of  the  persons  who  had  been  brought  into  mental 
distress,  obtained,  after  a  shorter  or  longer  period  of  peniten- 
tial earnestness,  not  merely  a  sense  of  relief,  but  a  gladdening 
consciousness  of  pardon,  accompanied  by  a  peace  "  which, 
to  their  own  minds,  passed  understanding."  They  felt  their 
souls  brought  out  of  a  state  of  deep  distressing  "  darkness  " 
into  one  of  "  marvellous  light  "  and  joy.  They  experienced 
an  inward  assurance  of  personal  adoption  into  the  Divine 
favour  which  they  believed  to  be  the  inward  voice  of  "  the 
Spirit  itself,  bearing  witness  with  their  spirit  that  they  were 
now  the  children  of  God."  This  assurance  produced  at 
once  a  feeling  of  grateful  love  to  God  for  His  mercy.  The 
manner  in  which  this  change  of  feeling  was  manifested, 
varied  with  the  various  temperaments  of  the  persons  who 
experienced  it.  Some  sank  into  silent  adoration,  some 
looked  around  in  wonder,  as  though  they  were  then  for  the 
first  time  conscious  of  real  existence ;  some  smiled  with  an 
expression  of  indescribable  rapture ;  some  practically  adopted 
the  language  of  the  Psalmist,  "  Then  was  our  mouth  filled 
with  laughter,  and  our  tongue  with  singing."  Many  began 
at  once  to  speak  to  those  who  were  kneeling  in  the  distress 
from  which  they  had  themselves  just  escaped,  to  urge  them 


214  queen's  town. 

to  exercise  the  appropriating  faith  which  they  had  found  so 
efficacious  in  their  own  case.  But  amidst  these  diversities 
of  outward  expression,  the  language  of  all  was  virtually 
this  : — "  Being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  also  we  have 
access  by  faith  into  this  grace  wherein  we  stand,  and  rejoice 
in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God." 

3.    THE   PRACTICAL    EFFECTS. 

This  religious  excitement  does  not  evaporate  in  mere 
feeling,  but  manifests  its  Divine  life  in  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit  in  their  Scriptural  order.  The  "joy"  that  springs  from 
the  "  love,"  is  succeeded  by  the  "  peace,"  which  becomes  the 
settled  habit  of  the  soul,  and,  though  less  ecstatic  than  the 
first  gush  of  rapture,  rules  in  the  heart  and  mind.  And  from 
the  "  love,  joy,  and  peace,"  which  thus  lie  at  the  root  of 
the  Christian  life,  spring  the  other  graces,  of  the  Christian 
character  in  due  order — "  long-suffering,  gentleness,  good- 
ness, fidelity,  meekness,  temperance."  Now,  in  strict 
accordance  with  this  newness  of  life,  which  thus  affords  a 
test  of  the  reality  of  conversion,  the  change  in  feeling,  in 
manners  and  in  action,  displayed  by  those  whom  God  hath 
brought  to  himself  by  this  man's  instrumentality,  has 
astonished  and  confounded  their  former  associates.  Leaders 
in  vice  have  become  champions  in  defence  of  the  religion 
they  had  reviled.  Men  of  profligate  lives  have,  with  bitter 
shame,  made  confession,  and  are  endeavouring  to  repair  the 
evil  of  their  former  courses,  by  zealous  and  courageous 
activity  in  a  new  one.  Drunkards,  who  were  the  terror  of 
their  families,  and  the  pest  of  their  neighbourhood,  have 
renounced  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  the  very 
alteration  in  their  outward  appearance  proclaims  the  change 
within.  Profane  swearers  are  shuddering  at  the  recollec- 
tion of  their  favourite  oaths  and  blasphemies.  Frauds  and 
wrongs  have    been   acknowledged,   and  restitution  made. 


FIRST   VISIT   TO   LESSEYTON.  215 

Men  who  had  taken  advantage  of  the  detected  villany  of 
■others  to  escape  from  their  own  responsibilities,  have  come 
forward  and  paid  the  demands  which  they  had  asserted  were 
forgeries.  Long-standing  family  discords  have  been  healed, 
and  quarrels  that  had  lasted  for  years,  ended  in  the  over- 
ture for  reconciliation  by  the  parties  most  aggrieved.  These 
are  specimens  of  the  practical  effects  of  this  man's  preach- 
ing.    They  tell  their  own  tale. 

On  Tuesday,  the  10th  of  July,  pending  my  series 
in  Queen's  Town,  I  went,  in  company  with  Rev. 
Brother  Dugniore,  Rev.  Brother  Wakeford,  and 
others,  to  preach  at  Lesseyton.  Rev.  J.  Bertram,  a 
successful  missionary,  who  was  converted  to  God 
during  the  "  Graham's  Town  revival  of  1837/ 
was  the  superintendent.  He  was,  in  1847,  the 
founder,  and  is  the  present  superintendent  of  Lessey- 
ton Station,  which  is  the  seat  of  one  of  the  three 
industrial  schools,  established  under  the  Wesleyans, 
by  Governor  Grey.  The  school-buildings  here  are  not 
so  large  as  those  inHeald  Town,  but  very  substantial, 
and  large  enough  for  all  demands  at  present.  The 
mission-house  and  chapel  are  good,  and  many  of  the 
natives  live  in  substantial  brick  cottages.  Altogether, 
the  Lesseyton  Station  is  said  to  be  in  advance  of  all 
others  in  the  colony  in  education,  and  civilization, 
among  the  natives.  Brother  Bertram  was  absent  on 
a  necessary  engagement  that  called  him  away  for 
some  weeks.  He  was  at  my  services  at  Fort  Beaufort 
and  begged  me  to  visit  his  people  at  Lesseyton,  and 
also   wrote   to   Brother   Dugmore,    asking    him   to 


210  QUEER'S   TOWN. 

arrange  for  me,  and  accompany  me  to  his  station. 
It  is  a  rule  with  me  not  to  work  in  any  charge  in  the 
absence  of  the  pastor,  but  under  all  the  circumstances 
in  this  case,  I  could  not  refuse.  During  the  minis- 
ter's absence,  there  was  not  a  white  man  on  the 
station,  but  all  the  services  were  kept  up,  and  good 
order  maintained  in  every  department  of  society, 
under  the  able  administration  of  their  "headman," 
William  Bambana.  He  is  an  Amatembu  Kaffir,  as 
are  the  mass  of  his  people  on  the  station.  He  is  a 
tall,  large,  fine-looking  old  man,  of  commanding  in- 
fluence among  all  classes  in  Queen's  Town  district. 

When  we  arrived,  at  eleven  o'clock  a.m.,  the  chapel, 
which  is  a  commodious  stone  building,  to  seat  about 
600,  was  crowded.  My  interpreter  was  the  son  of  Rev. 
Brother  Wakeford,  a  fine  young  man,  who  had  just 
oeen  converted  to  God  at  my  meetings  in  Queen's 
Town.  The  young  man  was  born  and  brought  up 
among  the  Kaffirs,  and  was  said  to  be  a  fine  Kaffir 
scholar,  so  I  anticipated  a  glorious  harvest  of  souls 
that  day.  The  people  had  heard  of  the  great  work 
of  God  at  Annshaw  and  Heald  Town,  and  their  eyes 
glistened  with  a  spirit  of  expectation. 

Brother  Dugmore,  who  conducted  the  preliminary 
part  of  the  service,  remained  seated  in  the  pulpit. 
As  the  small,  old  style  of  pulpits,  which  are  found 
in  all  the  chapels  in  South  Africa,  did  not  afford 
space  for  me  and  my  interpreter,  and  as  I  wished 
always  to  stand  beside  my  spokesman,  and  not 
behind    and    above    him,  as  many  do,  I  took  my 


A   MORTIFYING    FAILURE.  217 

stand  in  the  altar,  which  has  an  elevation  in  this 
chapel  of  more  than  a  foot  above  the  level  of  the 
floor.  Now  we  proceed  : — Brother  Dugmore,  in  his 
perch  in  our  rear,  Brother  Wakeford  seated  by  the 
wall  to  our  left,  the  anxious  native  crowd  on  all 
sides  and  front,  back  to  the  door,  my  young  inter- 
preter standing  just  to  my  left. 

Text : — "  The  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say  come/'  &c. 
I  proceed  to  say,  "  The  provision  of  salvation  for 
all  sinners  is  compared  to  a  river."  A  pause — 
"  What  do  you  mean  by  provision  ?  "  says  my  inter- 
preter.    I  explain,  and  he  renders. 

Then  follows  a  baulky  baffling  tug.  Every  few 
minutes  when  I  discharge  a  Gospel  shot,  which  I  ex- 
pect will  bring  down  some  Goliath  in  penitential 
humiliation,  the  whole  charge  comes  rebounding  with 
most  humiliating  effect  upon  the  shooter.  Now 
Brother  Dugmore  gives  my  man  a  helping-hand, 
which  conveys  the  thought  to  the  anxious  crowd,  but 
only  increases  the  confusion  of  the  young  man. 
Now  his  father  gives  him  a  word,  worse  still  for  him. 
Now  I  leave  him  standing  alone  in  not  a  very  plea- 
sant position,  while  I  step  back  and  give  a  whole 
illustration  to  Brother  Dugmore  to  give  to  the  people, 
and  we  both  stand  and  wait  till  the  old  missionary  is 
through,  and  then  try  again.  The  longer  the  worse, 
confusion  becomes  double  confounded. 

Say  I  to  myself,  "  Dear  me,  this  is  horrible ! 
Here  are  hundreds  of  thirsty  souls,  and  I  can't  tell 
them  how  to  come  to  the  river,  and  I  shall  never  have 


218  quken's  town. 

another  opportunity'  of  speaking  to  them  this  side 
the  Judgment.  Oh,  if  I  only  had  my  Charles 
here !  I  wipe  off  the  perspiration  and  try  again, 
hoping  for  a  favourable  turn  in  the  tide,  but  all  in 
vain.  Not  willing  to  endure  the  apparent  defeat  of 
stopping  short  in  the  middle  of  the  discourse,  abridg- 
ing it  as  much  as  possible,  we  struggle  through 
with  it,  and  sit  down  in  confusion  and  disappoint- 
ment. My  "  fine  Kaffir- scholar,"  alas,  did  not 
know  English  sufficiently,  and  was  so  confused,  that 
what  he  did  know  was  not  available  in  our  time  of 
Heed.  We  did  not  attempt  a  prayer-meeting  for 
seekers.  Brother  Dugmore  covered  our  retreat  by  a 
few  remarks,  followed  by  singing  and  prayer, 
which  closed  the  scene.  I  had  found  so  many  good 
interpreters  on  my  round,  after  leaving  Annshaw* 
that  I  thought  if  anything  should  prevent  Charles 
Pamla  from  accompanying  me  through  KafFraria, 
as  my  interpreter,  I  could  probably  get  on  well 
nevertheless,  but  now  I  began  to  realize  how  help- 
less I  should  be  if  he  failed  to  come.  I  had  not 
received  any  communication  from  Rev.  Brother 
Lamplough,  nor  from  Brother  Pamla  on  the  subject 
since  our  agreement  at  Annshaw,  and  began  now  to 
feel  very  uneasy,  lest  something  might  interfere  to 
prevent  his  coming.  I,  however,  took  comfort  in  the 
fact  that  I  was  going  on  the  Lord's  business,  and 
that  He  would  afford  all  necessary  facilities  and 
helpers. 

The  next  day,  Wednesday,  11th  July,  Mr.  James 


JAMES   ROBERTS. 


MY   KAFFRARIAN   TARTY.  219 

Roberts  and  my  son,  Morgan  Stuart,  arrived  from 
Graham's  Town,  preparatory  to  our  Kaffrarian 
journey.  Brother  Roberts  had  a  light,  strong  buggy, 
built  for  the  purpose,  at  a  cost  of  £54.  He  had 
purchased  four  horses,  at  a  cost  of  £75.  His  outfit 
altogether  cost  him  about  £150.  Being  so  amply 
provided  for  myself,  I  set  the  expenses  of  my  son  and 
my  interpreter,  on  horseback,  to  my  own  account. 
We  were  now  nearly  ready,  except  that  Charles 
Pamla  had  not  arrived,  and  we  had  no  tidings  from 
him.  But  the  next  day  Charles  arrived  all  right, 
bringing  good  news  concerning  the  progress  of  the 
work  of  God  in  the  Graham's  Town  district,  and  a 
letter  from  Brother  Lamplough,  dated  July  the  9th, 
an  extract  from  which  will  illustrate  the  progress  of 
the  work  at  Annshaw,  and  the  man  God  had  sent  me 
in  myneed. 

My  dear  Brother, — I  just  drop  you  a  line  by  our  Brother 
Charles  Pamla,  who  leaves  hei'e  to-day  for  Queen's  Town. 
I  have  not  time  to  enter  into  many  particulars  about  the 
work  since  I  last  wrote  to  you  at  Beaufor* ;  but  I  may  just 
say,  that  altogether  since  your  coming  to  Annshaw,  about 
six  hundred  profess  to  have  found  peace  with  God,  and 
after  careful  examination  into  every  case,  I  cannot  doubt 
the  reality  of  the  work  in  any  of  those  who  profess  to  be 
justified.  We  have  now  about  twelve  hundred  in  this 
circuit,  formed  into  about  eighty  classes.  This  is  by  far 
the  largest  number  of  any  circuit  in  South  Africa,  and  I 
rejoice  to  say  the  work  is  still  going  on.  Last  week  was  a 
glorious  one,  more  than  one  hundred  and  ninety  entered 
into  liberty.  God  is  greatly  honouring  our  Brother  Charles 
Pamla.     He  has  been  the  means  of  the  conversion  of  about 


220  queen's  town. 

three  hundred  souls  during  the  last  six  weeks.  Others  of 
our  native  brethren  are  also  very  useful  in  this  good  work, 
and  it  seems  to  me  that  God  is  plainly  showing  the  Church 
that  this  is  the  instrumentality  that  He  intends  to  employ 
in  converting  this  continent. 

I  rejoice  in  this  with  all  my  heart.  As  yet  I 
have  not  been  able  to  go  out  among  the  Heathens, 
but  as  the  tickets  will  be  finished  to-day,  I  hope 
soon  to  try  a  week  at  a  Heathen  village,  though,  in  this 
work,  I  have  lost  my  best  man  so  long  as  Charles  is  away ; 
but  I  am  willing  to  sacrifice  a  little  ^or  tbA  benefit  f*e  t^e 
work  beyond  the  Kei. 

During  our  week  of  special  services  in  Queen's 
Town,  I  had  no  opportunity  of  preaching  to  the 
Kaffirs  there,  but  arranged,  to  give  them  a  service  on 
Wednesday  afternoon  of  the  following  week,  on  our 
return  from  Kamastone.  The  Kaffir  chapel  in 
Queen's  Town  is  a  good  building,  next  door  to  the 
mission-house,  fronting  the  principal  street,  and  will 
seat  about  three  hundred,  but  by  the  Kaffir  art 
of  packing,  will  hold  about  five  hundred.  Our  ser- 
vice commenced  at  four  p.m.  The  venerable  Dug- 
more,  with  a  smooth  and  beautiful  flow  of  the  eupho- 
nious language  of  the  Kaffirs,  opened  the  service  by 
singing  (all  the  congregation  joining)  as  with  one 
voice,  thrilling  the  sympathetic  chords  of  many 
souls.  In  a  note  appended  to  the  said  printed  ser- 
mon, Mr.  Dugmore  makes  the  following  allusion  to 
the  sermon  which  followed  : — "  Mr.  Taylor  preached 
to  the  natives  in  their  own  chapel  here.  He  took 
for  his  text  the  ten  commandments,  explaining  aad 


LAST     NIGHT.  221 

applying  them,  and  d  .veiling  specially  on  the  evils 
to  which  the  natives  are  specially  addicted — theft, 
falsehood,  and  licentiousness.  Persons  who  listened 
to  the  discourse  remarked,  that  had  the  preacher 
been  twenty  years  among  these  people,  he  could  not 
have  preached  a  more  suitable  sermon.  The  usual 
effects  followed/'  Over  one  hundred  came  forward 
as  seekers,  and  a  fair  proportion  of  them  received 
Christ,  and  were  saved.  I  remained  with  them  till 
dark,  and  left  Brother  Pamla  to  go  on  with  the 
prayer- meeting  till  nine  p.m.,  while  I,  meantime, 
should  conduct  a  fellowship-meeting  for  the  European 
friends  in  the  other  Chapel.  It  was  a  pleasing 
scene  to  witness  a  crowd  of  happy  worshippers  filling 
the  chapel,  kneeling  before  the  Lord,  and  uniting 
with  their  venerable  pastor  in  prayer,  and  thanks- 
giving to  God  for  His  showers  of  blessing. 

I  gave  them  an  address  on  Christian-fellowship, 
adducing  the  Scriptural  authority  for  it,  and  illus- 
trating the  best  methods  of  promoting  it.  Then,  in 
the  space  of  one  hour,  fifty-three  persons  stood  up  in 
their  places,  and  testified  distinctly  to  the  fact  of  a 
conscious  knowledge  of  "peace  with  God,  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Among  these  were  a  num- 
ber of  old  Christians,  but  the  greater  part  were  per- 
sons who  were  converted  to  God  the  preceding 
week.  They  gave  brief  details  of  their  awakening, 
penitential  struggle,  and  the  time  when  they'  ob- 
tained salvation — some  on  Sabbath  night,  others  on 
Monday  night,  and  others  on  other  different  days 


222  queen's  town. 

and  nights  all  through  the  series  of  services.  Most 
of  them  had  found  peace  at  the  altar  of  prayer ;  but 
some  had  found  it  at  their  homes.  I  will  simply 
record  a  few  illustrative  specimen  testimonies  : — 

Mr.  John  Weekly,  a  merchant  in  Queen's  Town, 
said,  "  When  I  was  a  young  man  I  thought  that  all 
I  needed  to  make  me  happy  was  a  good  wife.  God 
gave  me  a  good  wife  ;  but  gave  me  to  see  that  I 
I  needed  something  more  to  make  me  happy.  I  was 
deeply  convinced  of  sin  by  His  awakening  Spirit, 
sought  and  found  peace  with  God,  then  I  was  happy, 
and  have  been  preserved  in  the  fear  and  love  of  God 
for  twenty-four  years/'' 

Mr.  William  Trollip  said,  "  I  found  peace  with 
God  here  three  days  ago.  These  have  been  the  hap- 
piest days  of  my  life." 

A  venerable-looking  old  man  arose  and  said,  "  I 
wonder  to  see  so  many  here  at  this  fellowship-meet- 
ing, and  to  hear  so  many  tell  of  the  saving  power  of 
God  in  their  souls  ;  but  my  greatest  wonder  is  to 
find  myself  here.  I  commenced  to  try  to  serve  God 
fifty  years  ago.  I  was  not  instructed  in  the  simple 
Gospel  way  of  salvation  by  faith,  and  was,  for  twenty 
years,  a  seeker.  I  then  obtained  salvation  by  faith, 
and  for  thirty  years  have  walked  in  the  light.  My 
race  is  nearly  run  ;  my  crown  is  in  view.  By  the 
grace  of  God  in  Christ  I  shall  soon  join  in  the  fel- 
lowship-meeting of  the  Church  triumphant  in 
Heaven." 

A  soldier  said,  "  When  I  commenced  to  seek  God 


A    SOLDIER   SUBDUED.  223 

my  heart  was  so  full  of  shame  and  pride,  that  to  face 
a  line  of  bayonets  in  battle,  would  not  be  half  so 
hard  as  to  face  the  eyes  of  the  people  upon  me  as  a 
seeking  sinner ;  but  last  Monday  night  I  bowed  at 
that  altar  of  prayer,  humbled  my  proud  heart  beforo 
God,  surrendered  my  poor  soul  to  Him,  and  by  faith 
in  Jesus,  obtained  the  pardon  of  all  my  sins,  Glory 
be  to  God  I- 


CHAPTER  XV. 


KAMASTONE. 


Having  closed  our  week  of  services  in  Queen's 
Town,  on  Saturday  the  14th  of  July,  Mr.  Wm. 
Trollip,  cousin  to  John  Trollip,  who  with  his  wife 
found  peace  with  God,  a  couple  of  days  before;  took 
me  and  my  son  Stuart  up  into  his  carriage  and  pair, 
with  his  good  wife,  and  drove  us  twenty  miles  to 
Kamastone  Mission  Station.  We  were  cordially  re- 
ceived and  kindly  entertained  by  the  missionary, 
Rev.  Wm.  Shepstone,  who,  as  we  have  before  seen, 
assisted  Rev.  Wm.  Shaw  in  the  establishment  of 
the  first  Wesleyan  Mission  Station  among  the 
Kaffirs,  in  Pato's  (now  Kama's)  tribe.  He  has 
been  actively  engaged  in  the  missionary  work  ever 
since,  extending  through  a  period  of  more  than  forty 
years.  He  is  now,  not  only  the  missionary  of  this 
large  station,  but  also  the  chairman  of  the  Queen's 
Town  District,  which  embraces  all  our  Kaffrarian 
missions,  west  of  the  Umzimvubu  river.  The  stations 
of  Palmerton,  and  Emfundisweni,  lying  east  of  that 
river,  belong  to  the  Natal  district.  Brother  Shep- 
Btone    is    a   very    kind,  cheerful,    earnest  brother, 


FATHER   AND  SON  RENEWING  AN  ACQUAINTANCE.    225 

thoroughly  imbued  with  the  missionary  spirit  of  his 
Master.  After  a  good  tea,  and  a  social  hour  with 
Brother  and  Sister  Shepstone,  I  strolled  through  the 
mission- grounds  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  with  my 
6on  Stuart,  a  youth  of  nineteen  years. 

Owing  to  his  absence  from  me  at  school,  a  couple 
of  years  before  I  left  America,  and  my  absence  abroad 
for  several  years,  and  his  recent  illness,  so  prostrating 
him  as  to  preclude  a  searching  conversation,  though 
the  son  of  my  youth,  my  first-born,  whom  I  had 
carried  on  my  heart  to  the  mercy- seat  every  day  of 
his  life,  he  was  almost  a  stranger  to  me.  I  knew  he 
had  joined  our  Church  when  a  child,  and  at  the  age 
of  eleven  years  professed  to  receive  the  regenerating 
grace  of  God,  and  that  his  teachers  and  his  mother, 
had  always  given  a  good  report  of  him,  yet  the  de- 
tails of  his  inner  life  had  been  a  sealed  book  to  me  ; 
but  in  our  walk  that  night  he  unbosomed  his  heart, 
and  gave  me  the  history  of  his  life.  It  was  an  event 
in  my  own  life  never  to  be  forgotten.  He  had  suf- 
fered great  religious  depression,  had  encountered 
great  trials,  but  had  held  his  ground  all  through 
from  the  time  of  his  conversion.  In  the  exhilaration 
of  his  returning  health,  he  had  said  and  done  many 
bo}rish  things,  which  led  some  to  misjudge  and  mis- 
represent him,  and  cause  anxious  solicitude  on  the 
part  of  his  parents ;  but  his  afflictions  had  been 
sanctified  to  his  good,  and  he  was  now  cleaving  to 
the  Lord,  and  happy  in  the  love  of  Jesus.  As  I 
listened  to  the  narration  of  his  experience,  I  shed 

Q 


226 


K  AM  ASTON  E. 


grateful  tears,  and  praised  God  on  his  behalf.  Dnr- 
ing  my  long  Providential  separation  from  my  family, 
labouring  for  the  salvation  of  strangers,  and  their 
children,  I  had  maintained  an  unwavering  faith  that 
God  certainly  would  not  allow  my  children  to  perish, 
but  would,  through  the  agency  of  their  dear  mother, 
and  other  available  instruments,  fully  supply  tho 
lack  of  service  occasioned  by  my  absence.  Now 
I  received  a  practical  support  to  my  faith,  which 
greatly  cheered  me  in  my  work. 

Kamastone  mission  was  commenced  by  Mr.  Shep- 
stone  in  1847.  The  mission-house  is  plain,  but 
spacious  and  commodious.  Coming  out  on  the  front- 
verandah,  we  see  below  us  a  large  orchard  of  well- 
grown  apple,  pear,  and  other  varieties  of  fruit-trees. 
To  the  right,  distant  perhaps  a  hundred  yards,  is  the 
shop  which  furnishes  supplies  for  the  neighbour- 
hood, kept  by  a  good  brother,  who  sold  me  a  Kaffir 
pony,  a  superior  "  tripler,"  for  £13,  which  carried  my 
son  Stuart  seven  hundred  miles  through  Kaffraria 
and  Natal.  On  each  side,  and  in  the  rear  of  the 
mission-house,  we  see  the  huts  and  cabins  of  the 
natives,  their  gardens  and  cultivated  fields,  with 
their  herds  of  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  dogs,  and 
naked  children.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  mission- 
house  from  the  shop,  and  about  the  same  distance 
from  it,  is  the  chapel,  a  cruciform,  plain  and 
substantial  building,  with  sittings  for  about  six 
hundred  persons. 

On  Sabbath,  the  14th  of  July,  at  ten  a.m.,  we  cow- 


PACKING   A    KAFFIR   CHAPEL.  227 

menced  our  work  there.  Every  square  foot  of  space 
in  the  chapel  is  crowded.  The  space  right  and  left, 
from  the  pulpit  and  altar,  back  to  the  side  walls,  is 
filled  with  the  white  colonial  farmers  from  a  radius 
of  twenty  miles.  Next  to  them,  on  the  right,  and 
front  from  the  pulpit,  are  nearly  one  hundred 
bastard  Hottentots.  Opposite  to  them,  on  the  left, 
and  through  the  whole  body  of  the  chapel,  back  to 
the  door,  and  round  the  doors  and  windows  out- 
side, were  all  the  varieties  of  Fingoes  and  Kaffirs. 
Christians,  in  European  dress,  and  heathens  in  their 
native  costumes  and  trinkets,  packed  together  almost 
as  snugly  as  herrings  in  a  barrel.  The  preliminary 
service  is  conducted  by  the  venerable  superintendent ; 
then  he  is  seated  in  the  altar,  while  I  and  Brother 
Pamla  take  the  pulpit.  "While  we  explain  to  them 
God's  provision  of  salvation,  the  personality  and 
abiding  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  His  methods 
of  saving  sinners  through  human  agency,  you 
feel  and  see  the  indications  of  a  rising  swelling 
tide  of  the  Spirit's  power,  and  you  wonder  that, 
under  the  pressure  of  such  pent-up  mental  and 
emotional  action,  there  is  not  a  single  audible  re- 
sponse. All  faces  upturned,  smiles,  tears,  distorted 
features,  trembling  limbs,  but  not  a  murmur.  Lo  ! 
there's  a  man  back  near  the  door,  who  cannot  longer 
restrain  his  feelings,  but  with  one  burst  of  half- 
smothered  emotions,  see  him  try  to  rush  for  the  door,  to 
take  himself  away,  and  not  disturb  the  umfundisi  or  his 
hearers.     In  his  attempt  he  falls  down,  but  keeps 


228  KAMASTONE. 

moving  on  hands  and  knees  through  the  packed 
masses  who  are  standing  and  sitting  in  the  aisle, 
out  at  the  door  he  rushes,  and  away  where  he  can 
roar  till  his  over-charged  soul  is  relieved.  All  this 
we  see  from  the  pulpit ;  but  nobody  is  disturbed, 
all  the  rest  remain  quiet,  and  catch  every  sen- 
tence of  Gospel  truth  we  utter,  and  drink  in  the 
Spirit's  influence  as  the  thirsty  land  drinks  in  the 
rain.  We  close  the  service  with  singing  and  prayer, 
by  Brother  Pamla. 

At  two  p.  m.,  we  again  stand  before  a  packed 
audience  in  the  same  order  as  in  the  morning.  In 
the  morning  the  preaching  was  to  the  believers,  now 
we  open  a  Gospel  battery  upon  the  ungodly,  and  tho 
shafts  of  truth  directed  by  the  Spirits  unerring  aim 
pierced  the  hearts  of  hundreds.  At  the  close  of  the 
sermon  we  proceed  with  a  prayer-meeting.  We 
invite  the  white  seekers  to  kneel  at  the  altar-rail,  and 
the  Kaffirs  to  commence  with  the  front  forms,  and 
kneel  at  every  alternate  form  back  to  the  door,  thus 
leaving  space  for  their  instructors  to  pass  through 
them,  and  get  access  to  every  seeker.  Soon  the  altar 
is  crowded  with  whites,  and  about  two  hundred 
natives  are  down  as  seekers  of  pardon.  Now  their 
pent-up  feelings  get  vent,  and  mid  floods  of  tears, 
sighs,  and  groans,  they  are  all  audibly  pleading  with 
God  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  pardon  of 
their  sins.  No  one  voice  is  raised  much  above  the 
rest,  so  that  it  seems  to  create  no  confusion. 

Charles  is  a  general  in  conducting  a  prayer- meet- 


A   DAY   NEVER   TO    BE    FORGOTTEN.  229 

ing,  judiciously  arranging  everything,  rightly 
employing  every  worker  under  his  command,  and 
setting  all  an  example  by  working  most  effectively 
himself.  A  large  number  embrace  Christ  and  find 
salvation  at  this  service.  Giving  a  little  time  for 
refreshment,  we  commenced  another  preaching 
service  at  seven,  and  continued  the  prayer-meet- 
ing till  eleven  p.m.  It  was  a  day  never  to 
be  forgotten  by  any  who  witnesssed  its  scenes,  and 
felt  the  power  of  the  Spirit  as  manifested  at  the 
three  services.  On  Monday,  at  eleven  a.m.,  the 
chapel  was  packed  as  tightly  as  on  the  Sabbath. 
Brother  Shepstone,  as  usual,  conducted  the  opening 
service.  As  I  always  preached  my  sermon  to  my 
interpreter  alone,  and,  as  most  of  our  time  was 
occupied  in  public,  we  often  took  the  time  of  the 
opening  service  for  our  preparation  for  the  pulpit. 
At  the  Monday  prayer-meeting,  the  crowd  of  seekers 
seemed  almost  as  great  as  it  was  the  day  before, 
though  several  scores  had  been  saved.  Many  whom 
we  saw  yesterday  in  their  penitential  struggle,  appa- 
rently suffering  the  agony  of  death,  weeping  and 
piteously  pleading  for  release  from  Satan,  and  the 
death-penalty  of  the  law,  are  now  with  shining  faces 
singing  and  witnessing  for  Jesus. 

My  son  Stuart  was  greatly  blessed,  and  for  hours 
we  see  him  labouring  with  a  party  of  young  men, 
several  of  whom  he  won  to  Christ. 

See  the  altar  crowded  with  whites,  one  after  another 
they  receive  Christ,  and  are  filled  with  unspeakable 


230  KAMASTONE. 

joy !  Fathers  and  mothers  embrace  their  saved 
prodigal  sons  and  daughters  in  their  arms,  kiss  them, 
and  weep  tears  of  gratitude,  and  praise  God. 

There's  a  heathen  doctor  among  the  seekers,  deco- 
rated with  strings  of  beads,  shells,  and  all  sorts  of 
trinkets  and  charms.  He  feels  that  these  things  are 
hindering  his  approach  to  Christ,  and  now  he  scatters 
them.  Nothing  has  been  said  about  these  things  in 
the  preaching,  or  personally  to  the  seekers,  but  they 
are  not  simply  the  ornaments  of  their  half-naked 
bodies,  which  might  justly  claim  a  little  covering, 
even  of  beads,  in  the  absence  of  something  better ; 
these  were  the  badges  of  their  heathenism,  their 
gods  and  charms,  in  which  they  trusted  for  health, 
good  crops,  good  luck  in  hunting,  deliverance  from 
their  enemies,  and  all  those  demands  of  human  nature 
which  God  only  can  supply.  Hence,  in  accepting 
Christ,  they  violently  tear  these  idols  off,  and  cast 
them  away.  We  see  women  tearing  open  the  brass- 
bands  on  their  arms,  and  throwing  them  down.  They 
were  great  treasures  before,  but  now  they  hate  them. 
Many  of  those  who,  an  hour  ago,  were  roaring  in  the 
disquietude  of  their  souls,  are  now  sitting  quietly  at 
the  feet  of  Jesus,  with  tearful  eyes  and  smiling  faces. 
Many,  however,  exercise  their  first  new  life  in  wit- 
nessing for  Christ. 

See  that  Kaffir  Boanerges,  how  he  talks  !  I  wish 
we  could  understand  his  language.  "  Charles,  what 
is  that  man  saying  ?  " 

"  0,  he  says,  '  I  never  knew  that  I  was  such  a 


TESTIMONY   OF    YOUNG    CONVERTS.  231 

sinner,  till  the  Holy  Ghost  shined  into  me,  then  I 
saw  that  I  was  one  of  the  worst  sinners  in  the  world. 
O,  I  cried  to  God,  gave  my  wicked  heart  to  Him,  and 
received  Christ.  Glory  to  Jesus !  He  has  pardoned 
all  my  sins  !'  " 

We'll  look  after  the  white  seekers.  There's  an 
old  man  who  has  had  a  hard  struggle.  He  was  at  it 
all  yesterday  ;  but  now  he  has  accepted  Christ,  and 
rejoices  in  the  love  of  God.  There  is  a  little  boy 
who  was  forward  yesterday,  but  his  countenance 
is  bright ;  we'll  see  what  he  has  found.  "  My  little 
brother,  have  you  given  your  heart  to  God  ?  "  "  Yes, 
I  have."  "  Have  you  received  Jesus  as  your 
Saviour  ?"  "  0,  yes,  and  He  has  forgiven  me  all  my 
sins."  "  How  did  you  feel  when  you  came  forward  ?  " 
"  0,  I  felt  nasty."  "  How  do  you  feel  now  ?  "  "  0, 
I  feel  nice." 

A  few  feet  from  this  boy  we  see  a  large,  fine- 
looking  Kaffir-woman,  well-dressed  in  English  cos- 
tume, wearing  a  large  scarlet  shawl.  We  saw  her 
bow  down  calmly  as  a  seeker,  with  flowing  tears 
and  subdued  utterances  she  gave  herself  to  God, 
and  received  Christ,  and  obtained  salvation  in  less 
than  fifteen  minutes.  Now  her  countenance  is  beam- 
ing with  joy  unspeakable.  "  Charles,  ask  that 
woman  where  she  belongs  ?  "  With  what  marvellous 
grace  and  eloquence  she  talks.  "  What  does  she 
say,  Charles  ?"  "  She  says  she  walked  from  Heald 
Town,  forty-six  miles,  to  get  to  this  meeting.  She 
could  not  get  to  your  meetings  in  Heald  Town,  but 


232  KAMASTONE. 

heard  of  the  great  work  of  God  there,  and  has 
come  here  to  get  you  to  tell  her  how  to  come  to 
Jesus.  She  says  she  believed  what  her  friends,  at 
Heald  Town,  told  her  about  the  great  salvation  ;  but 
now  she  has  found  it  herself,  and  says  the  half  had 
not  been  told  her/' 

There's  a  grand  pantomime.  "We  don't  know 
what  that  Kaffir  man  is  saying,  but  really  his  action 
is  most  earnest  and  graceful.  "  Charles,  what  is  he 
saying  ?  "  lie  says,  "  I  was  going  on  in  my  sins,  and 
did  not  know  that  I  was  in  any  danger  till  to-day. 
But  to-day  the  Holy  Ghost  shined  upon  my  path.  I 
saw  hell  open  just  close  before  me,  and  I  was  rush- 
ing into  it ;  but  I  turned  to  God,  and  laid  hold  on 
Christ,  and  He  has  saved  my  soul  from  hell." 

See  that  old  Kaffir- woman  supporting  her  withered 
frame  on  sticks  as  she  moves  up  and  down  the  aisle 
in  a  regular  Kaffir  dance,  and  talking  so  earnestly. 
A  more  comical-looking  old  creature  I  never  saw. 

"  Brother  Shepstone,  what's  the  matter  with  that 
old  woman  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,  she  looks  like  a  crazy  person. 
fll  go  and  hear  what  she's  saying/'  Down  the 
aisle,  amid  the  struggling  masses  of  the  seekers  and 
the  saved,  the  old  missionary  goes  to  hear  the  talk  of 
the  old  woman.  Returning  with  a  smile,  he  says, — 
"She's  not  crazy  at  all,  but  has  just  come  to  her 
right  mind.  She  has  obtained  salvation,  and  is  ex- 
horting the  people  to  go  on  and  tell  everybody  about 


THE    OLD    KAFFIR-WOMAN    AND    HER   SON.       233 

Jesus.  She  is  In  a  transport  of  joy.  I  know  her  now. 
I  have  seen  her  at  a  heathen  kraal  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood ;  but  I  never  saw  her  in  the  chapel  before." 
"  Her  age  must  date  back  a  long  way  towards  '  the 
flood.' "  "  I  don't  know  how  old  she  is,"  replied  the 
old  missionary  ;  "  but  her  son,  whom  I  know,  is 
seventy-five  years  old."  T  look  again  at  the  old 
creature,  and  laugh  and  weep.  She  seems  to  be  a 
relation  to  the  antediluvians  ;  whether  this  seventy- 
five  year  old  lad  was  her  oldest  or  youngest  son,  I  did 
not  learn,  and  yet  as  but  to-day,  "born  again,"  and  has 
become  a  babe  in  Christ.  These  are  mere  bird's-eye 
glances  into  a  scene  that  cannot  be  described.  "We 
liad  a  grand  service  on  Monday  night.  On  Tuesday, 
at  eleven  a.m.,  we  preached  on  "  Christian  Per- 
fection," went  into  the  philosophy  of  the  subject,  and 
of  the  Spirit's  gracious  adjustment  to  the  instincts, 
appetites,  and  passions,  and  explained  clearly,  even 
to  Kaffir  minds,  God's  purpose  as  to  their  existence, 
proper  discipline,  and  appropriate  exercise.  The 
whole  thing  was  simplified,  so  that  every  believing 
Kaffir  could  see  it.  Brother  Shepstone  said  he  never 
supposed  before  that  the  Kaffir  language  could  be 
used  to  convey  so  perfectly  the  whole  Gospel,  and 
had  never  conceived  it  possible  for  an  interpreter  to 
put  such  a  variety  of  English  words  and  ideas  into 
Kaffir.  He  expressed  his  surprise  repeatedly,  that 
Charles  not  only  put  my  ideas  into  Kaffir  to  their 
nicest    shades   of   meaning,  but    did  it  with  such 


234  kamasto?v*e. 

masterly  facility.  The  fact  is,  though  I  gave  him  every 
statement  of  truth  and  illustrative  fact  in  a  sermon, 
just  as  I  would  give  them  in  preaching  directly  to  an 
English  audience,  yet  I  had  always  gone  through  each 
subject  of  discourse  beforehand  with  him  alone.  If 
there  was  a  word  he  did  not  understand,  I  at  once 
ignored  it,  and  substituted  one  that  was  familiar  to 
him ;  but  he  was  so  thirsty  for  knowledge  himself, 
that,  if  possible,  he  alwaj'S  preferred  to  learn  the 
meaning  of  my  words,  and  to  select  new  Kaffir  words 
to  fit  them,  and  the  exact  meaning  of  a  foreign  illus- 
tration he  would  give  through  a  corresponding 
figure  familiar  to  the  Kaffir  mind.  For  example, 
"  An  ivy  crawled  out  from  between  the  roots  of  a 
beautiful  sapling,  and  entwined  itself  around  the 
trunk  of  the  young  tree.  It  gradually  absorbed 
the  strength  of  the  soil  and  moisture  that  the 
tree  needed  for  its  life,  and  tightened  its  many- 
folded  girth,  till  it  obstructed  the  sap-vessels  of  the 
tree.  The  tree  had  grown  tall  and  mighty,  but 
the  deceitful  ivy  did  its  deadly  work.  The  noble 
tree  declined,  lingered  long,  but  finally  died.  "When 
I  stood  by  the  grand  old  tree  it  was  dead,  and  all  the 
dews  of  heaven,  and  the  fruitful  supplies  of  the 
earth,  and  all  the  skill  of  all  the  gardeners  could 
not  cause  that  tree  to  bud.  It  was  dead.  Appli- 
cation— the  deceitful  ivy  of  sin  in  the  souls  of  all 
sinners." 

There  is  no  ivy  in  South  Africa,   therefore   the 
literal  base  of  that  figure  would  be  utterly  lost  on  a 


THE    IVY   ILLUSTRATION.  235 

Kaffir,  but  the  milkwood  of  South  Africa  furnishes 
a  figure  quite  as  forcible.  It  entwines  itself  around 
a  tree  as  gently  as  the  ivy,  its  hundreds  of 
delicate  tendril  feelers  encircle  the  tree,  mat  to- 
gether, and  then  unite  in  solid  wood,  until  it  com- 
pletely envelopes  the  grand  old  tree.  The  foreign 
thing  at  first  simply  seemed  to  hang  on  as  a  loose, 
ornamental  foliage,  but  in  process  of  time  the  tree 
within  its  folds  is  choked  to  death,  and  its  gradual 
decay  supplies  nourishing  food  for  its  destroyer  for 
generations  to  come. 

I  have  often  seen  these  noble  trees  of  different 
kinds  in  all  stages  of  this  deadly  process,  and 
could  not  restrain  a  thrill  of  sympathetic  horror  of 
being  thus  hugged  to  death  and  devoured  piece- 
meal. 

When  I  first  introduced  my  ivy  illustration  to 
Charles,  he  said,  "  The  Kaffirs  don't  know  what  you 
mean  by  ivy."  "Very  well,"  said  I,  "  we'll  not  use 
it."  "No,"  said  he,  "it is  too  good  an  illustration  to 
lose ;  since  you  have  explained  it  to  me  I  under- 
stand it  well,  and  if  you  will  give  it  as  the  ivy,  I 
will  give  it  exactly  by  the  milkwood,  which  every 
Kaffir  knows." 

We  closed  our  special  series  of  services  at  Kama- 
stone  at  3  p.m.,  on  Tuesday,  the  17th  of  July.  Just 
before  we  closed  Charles  gave  them  an  account  of  the 
great  work  of  God  at  Annshaw,  and  told  them  how 
they  had  battled  for  years  to  put  away  all  heathen 
customs  from  among  them,  especially  the  drinking 


236  KAMASTONE. 

of  Kaffir  beer,  with  all  its  attendant  abominations, 
and  that  the  work  of  God  never  prospered  among 
them  till  they  had  put  away  all  these  things  and 
come  out  fully  on  the  Lord's  side,  and  then  the  Holy 
Spirit  came  among  them,  and  saved  hundreds  of 
their  friends  and  of  wild  heathens.  While 
Charles  was  speaking,  Brother  Shepstone  became  so 
interested  in  his  narrative  that,  he  got  up  from  his 
seat  and  stood  before  the  pulpit,  looking  up  at  my 
man,  and  finally,  seeming  to  forget  himself,  ho 
shouted  out,  "  Hear !  hear  !  hear  !  " 

During  our  series  of  two  days  and  a  half,  in 
which  we  preached  six  sermons  and  held  five  prayer- 
meetings,  Brother  Shepstone  took  the  names  of  two 
hundred  natives  and  twenty  whites,  who  professed, 
at  those  services,  to  find  the  pardon  of  their  sins 
through  an  acceptance  of  Christ.  In  a  letter  I 
received  from  Be  v.  Mr.  Shepstone,  dated  November 
13th,  four  months  after  our  departure,  he  says, 
"  Since  your  arrival  on  this  station  up  to  the  present 
we  have  added  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  our 
society  at  Kamastone.  On  the  28th  ult.  I  baptized 
from  among  the  heathen  one  hundred  and  sixty  in- 
dividuals. About  twenty  of  these  were  infants,  the 
others  have  embraced  Christianity,  and  almost  all  of 
these  profess  to  have  found  peace  with  God  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  When  I  met  the  society  last 
quarter  for  the  renewal  of  tickets,  there  was  such  a 
union  of  love  and  Christian  feeling  among  the  mem- 
bers as  gave  me  great  pleasure.     I  was  rejoiced  to 


LARGE    INGATHERING   OF   HEATHENS.  237 

find  that  they  had  risen  up  into  a  higher  region  of 
Christian  experience." 

An  eye  witness  to  the  baptismal  service,  admitting 
one  hundred  and  forty  adult  heathens  to  the  Church, 
as  above  stated,  writing  to  a  local  journal  in  Queen's 
Town,  and  quoted  by  the  Wesleijan  Missionary 
Notices,  says,  "  Many  of  the  candidates  for  baptism 
were  grey-headed  men  and  women.  In  one  instance 
we  saw  an  aged  man  and  his  wife,  tottering  on  the 
verge  of  the  grave,  who,  a  few  months  ago,  were 
walking  in  the  paths  of  sin,  but  now  clothed,  and 
in  their  right  mind.  Women,  who,  a  short  time 
ago,  were  found  at  the  dance,  besmeared  with  red 
clay,  and  indulging  all  the  licentiousness  of  those 
abominable  scenes,  now  were  clothed  in  decent  Euro- 
pean apparel,  not  only  being  baptised  themselves, 
but  bringing  their  infants  also.  The  large  church 
was  crowded  with  attentive  observers,  and  no  one 
could  view  the  scene  unmoved  or  without  feelings  of 
deep  gratitude  to  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church. 
In  several  instances  these  converts  have  suffered 
considerable  persecution  from  their  heathen  relations, 
some  have  been  driven  from  their  homes,  some  have 
been  severely  beaten,  others  have  been  tied  fast  to 
the  pole  of  the  house  and  watched,  that  they  might 
not  go  out  and  pray  to  the  Great  Spirit.  Yet  in 
almost  every  case  persecution  has  only  produced  the 
same  effects  it  did  in  days  of  old,  to  make  the 
objects  of  it  more  determined  than  ever  to  serve  God 
rather  than  man." 


233  KAMASTONE. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  from  Brother 
Shepstone,  published  in  the  Wesleyan  Missionary 
Notices  for  December,  will  illustrate  the  further  pro- 
gress of  this  work  of  God,  and  "  how  the  old  mis- 
sionary hero  is  renewing  his  youth :  " — 

In  this  district  we  have  had  a  share,  but  the  full  results 
have  not  reached  me  yet.  The  Queen's  Town  Circuit  will 
have  had  about  one  hundred  Europeans  added  besides 
coloured  men.  Here  at  Kamastone  we  have  added  three 
hundred  and  forty,  and,  thank  God,  the  work  is  still  going 
on  at  both  places.  Besides  this,  it  has  spread  to  Hankey, 
a  Station  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  about  twenty 
miles  from  this,  where  I  am  informed  that  one  hundred  and 
fifty  have  become  earnest  seekers  for  salvation;  and  to 
Eat  River,  where  three  hundred  are  said  to  have  been 
added.  Some  of  these  people  from  Hankey  were  at 
Kamastone,  and  found  peace.  I  desired  them  to  go  back 
to  their  own  minister,  and  tell  him  what  God  had  done  for 
them,  and  I  hear  that  they  have  been  in  no  way  ashamed 
to  do  this.  It  does  seem  that  the  seed  of  former  days  is 
being  harrowed  in  by  our  American  brother;  and  that  God's 
Spirit  is  working  in  such  a  way  as  none  have  previously 
seen.  We  are  all  bowed  down  by  a  sense  of  God's  con- 
descending mercy,  while  we  are  lifted  up  with  a  thankful- 
ness we  cannot  express.  Some  of  us  would  grow  younger 
at  once  (but  nature  will  not  alter  her  laws),  that  we  might 
enjoy  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  in  this  long-benighted 
continent  for  another  generation. 

In  St.  Paul's  great  work  of  God  in  Antioch,  in 
Pisidia,  some  of  his  hearers,  to  whom  he  made  an 
offer  of  Christ  as  their  Saviour,  "  opposed  themselves, 
and  blasphemed,"  and  in  Corinth  they  judged  them- 


PERSECUTIONS!.  039 

seiYes  "unworthy  of  everlasting  life,"  so  among 
these  poor  heathens  many  "  opposed  themselves/' 
and  rejected  Christ,  as  may  be  illustrated  by  tne 
following  facts  given  by  Mr.  Shepstone,  in  a  letter. 

It  has  not  been  uncommon  to  see  some  rush  out  of  the 
house  of  God  during  Divine  Service,  afterwards  confessing 
that  they  felt  if  they  remained  longer  they  should  have 
been  obliged  to  give  up  their  heathenism  and  their  sins, 
which  they  were  dstermined  not  to  do.  "  Where  are  yon 
going  ?  "  said  a  heathen  woman  lately  to  her  husband,  as  he 
was  putting  on  his  European  clothes.  "  To  the  service," 
was  the  reply  (he  was  coining  to  chapel). 

"  Put  them  off!  put  them  off!  Do  you  not  know  that 
all  who  go  there  are  caught  ?  "  He  did  put  them  off,  and 
he  is  a  heathen  still,  though  I  have  some  hopes  he  may  yet 
be  "  caught,"  as  hundreds  have  been  caught,  and  we  are  still 
catching. 

This  heathen  woman,  you  see,  used  the  very  same  terms, 
and  applies  the  same  meaning  as  our  Lord  used  to  Simon. 
"  From  henceforth  thou  shalt  catch  men."    (Luke  v.  10). 

Though  our  sojourn  in  Kamastone  was  so  short, 
we  were  all  so  imbued  with  the  unction  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  united  together  so  closely  in  the  bonds  of 
Christian  sympathy  and  love,  that  we  found  the  part- 
ing to  be  a  solemn  affair  indeed.  Having  to  preach 
that  night  at  Lesseyton,  twenty  miles  distant,  we 
had  to  take  a  hasty  dinner,  and  then  we  bade  adieu 
to  the  old  missionary  patriarch  and  his  wife,  and 
a  hundred  Kaffirs,  most  of  them  new-born  sou  is  m 
Christ,  who  were  waiting  to   say    "  farewell."      1 


240  KAMASTONE. 

gave  thenia  talk  for  their  instruction  and  edification, 
shook  hands  with  each  one  and  left,  to  see  them 
no  more  till  we  meet  before  the  judgment  seat  of 
Christ. 

The  interest  of  our  farewell  exercise  was  increased 
by  a  touching  episode.  Sister  Turvey,  the  blind 
lady,  before  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
work  in  Queen's  Town,  hearing  that  her  son  George, 
who  had  followed  us  with  a  heart  of  grief  and  sin 
to  Kamastone,  had  found  salvation,  had  come 
twenty  miles  to  rejoice  with  him.  As  soon  as 
George  saw  his  mother  led  into  the  mission-house,  he 
ran  into  her  arms,  exclaiming,  "  O,  mother,  my  dear 
mother,  I  have  found  Jesus  !  "  Though  we  were  in 
haste  to  be  off,  we  could  but  stop  and  wait,  and 
wonder  at  and  adore  the  mysterious  providence  and 
amazing  mercy  of  God. 

Here's  a  daughter  of  sorrow,  who  has  walked  in 
darkness,  and  has  literally  had  no  light  for  many 
years.  She  has  struggled  through  the  dark  vale  of 
her  affliction  to  rear  and  educate  her  children. 
George  had  been  a  great  comfort  to  her,  but  none  of 
her  children  had  embraced  Christ.  The  mother  had 
long  been  praying  for  them,  and  hoping  that  they 
would  be  brought  to  God,  and  go  with  her  to  meet 
their  father  in  heaven.  Now  her  prayers  were 
answered.  After  her  joyous  meeting  with  George, 
she  pressed  my  hand,  exclaiming,  "  Oh,  Mr.  Taylor, 
I  thank  God  that  He  sent  you  to  Africa.  You  have 
been  the  means  of  saving  four  of  my  children/'  The 


FAREWELL    SCENES.  241 

tears  streamed  from  her  darkened  eyeballs  as  she 
held  my  hand,  and  praised  God  for  His  abounding 
mercies  to  her  own  soul  and  to  her  children.  Fare- 
well Kamastone,  we  are  off  on  our  mission  of  peace, 
Brother  and  Sister  Trollip  and  myself  in  the  carriage, 
Charles  and  Stuart  to  follow  on  horseback.  Away, 
out  on  a  high-ridge,  we  take  our  last  view  of  our 
recent  battle-ground,  and  the  beautiful  surround- 
ings of  the  Kamastone  Mission  Station,  and  then 
push  on  to  Lesseyton,  the  scene  of  my  former 
failure,  which  I  feared  I  should  not  be  able  to  visit 
again,  but  now  glad  of  a  chance  to  retrieve  my  lost 
victory  there,  and  do  successful  battle  for  God. 


CHAPTER  XVL 


LESSEYTON. 


Chakles  and  Stuart  were  not  quite  ready  when 
Brother  Trollip  and  I  left  Kamastone,  and  our  hope 
that  they  would  soon  overtake  us  was  not  realized. 

When  the  darkness  of  a  moonless  night  settled 
down  upon  us,  we  had  about  six  miles  yet  to  drive 
to  reach  Lesseyton.  In  working  our  way  through 
the  Mimosa  Scrub  we  could  not  from  the  carriage 
see  the  road,  and  had  to  get  out  and  walk.  When 
we  arrived,  the  chapel  was  crowded,  but  Charles  had 
not  come,  and  there  was  not  a  man  there  who  could 
interpret  for  me.  I  thought,  dear  me  !  shall  we  suffer 
another  defeat  here  ?  I  knew  Charles  would  certainly 
come  if  he  could  find  his  way,  but  as  he  was  a 
stranger  in  those  parts,  that  seemed  very  improbable. 
We  waited  anxiously  for  him  for  about  an  hour, 
when  I  heard  the  rattle  of  horsehoofs  in  a  neigh- 
bouring scrub,  and  hailed,  and  got  a  response,  from 
his  familiar  voice.  Some  one  had  recommended  him 
to  come  by  a  more  direct  path,  in  taking  which  he 
lost  his  way.     We  commenced  preaching  about  half- 


WM.    BAMBANA,    "  MINE    HOST."  243 

past  eight,  and   continued  the   prayer-meeting  till 
eleven  p.  m. 

The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  was  present,  and  wrought 
"  wondrously."  About  150  seekers  of  pardon  came 
forward,  and  about  twenty  of  them  professed  to 
obtain  it  that  night,  but  the  mass  of  them  were  slow 
to  accept  Christ.  Brother  Bambana,  the  Tembookie, 
head  man  of  the  station,  at  the  close  of  the  service, 
conducted  us  to  his  house.  Brother  Trollip,  being 
a  merchant,  and  having  always  been  greatly  preju- 
diced against  the  blacks,  would  not  have  consented, 
a  week  before,  on  any  account,  to  lodge  at  the  house 
of  a  coloured  man,  but  now  he  and  his  wife  had  the 
humility  and  simplicity  of  "  little  children/'  They 
had  entered  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  were 
"  fellow -citizens  with  the  saints  and  the  household  of 
God,"  to  which  fraternity,  our  sable  host  had 
belonged  for  many  years,  and  it  was  their  privilege 
to  enjoy  his  simple  genuine  hospitality.  He  gave 
us  good  food,  good  beds,  and  good  cheer.  Mrs. 
Bambana  would  command  respect  among  any  class 
of  sensible  discriminating  people,  as  a  person  of  good 
common-sense,  and  great  kindness  of  heart.  She 
is  a  Class-leader,  I  was  told,  of  rare  excellence. 
They  had  two  adult  sons,  who  had  received  a  fair 
education,  and  could  speak  English  sufficiently  to 
enable  us  to  converse  with  them  a  little.  They 
were  both  seekers  of  pardon  that  night.  Brother 
Bambana  was  greatly  interested  in  the  account  I 
gave  him  through  my  interpreter,  of  the  4,000,000 


244  LESSEYTON. 

of  Africans  whom  God  had  delivered  from  slavery 
in  America,  and  of  the  efforts  being  made  by  their 
friends  for  their  education  and  salvation. 

The  next  day,  "Wednesday,  the  18th  of  July,  at 
ten  A.  m.,  we  are  again  in  the  chapel,  with  a  crowded 
audience.  Besides  Brother  and  Sister  Trollip,  and 
one  white  man,  who  followed  us  from  Kamastone, 
there  were  no  other  whites  present  except  a  Dutch 
family,  and  they  could  not  understand  anything  that 
was  said,  but  the  truth  went  home  to  the  conscience 
of  the  Kaffirs,  and  nearly  200  of  them  came  forward 
as  seekers. 

There  we  see  them  down  in  every  alternate  seat 
back  to  the  front  door.  The  struggle  is  long  and 
hard  ;  now  they  begin  to  get  into  "  the  liberty  of  the 
sons  of  God."  How  the  new  converts  do  talk  and 
exhort.  They  are  unusually  demonstrative.  See 
them  with  uplifted  hands  and  streaming  eyes,  telling 
the  wonders  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  work  in  their  hearts. 
There  is  a  Kaffir- woman,  with  painted  face,  covered 
with  heathen  ornaments,  but  oh,  how  she  talks. 
"  Charles,  what  is  that  woman  saying  ?  " 

"She  says  she  has  been  a  very  great  sinner,  but 
has  got  all  her  sins  forgiven  ;  she  says  Jesus  has 
saved  her  soul,  and  she  don't  know  what  to  tell  Him, 
to  let  Him  know  how  thankful  she  is  for  His  kind- 
ness. She  wants  all  her  friends  to  come  to  God. 
They  are  heathens,  not  one  of  them  knows  Jesus,  and 
she  never  knew  Him  till  now.  She  says  she  knows 
her  friends  will  persecute  her,  and  try  to  make  her 

\ 


REMARKABLE    SCENES.  245 

give  up  Jesus,  but  she  is  going  to  cleave  to  Him 
till  she  dies.  She  is  begging  all  her  Christian  brothers 
and  sisters  to  pray  for  her,  that  she  may  not  only 
stand  firmly,  but  lead  all  her  kindred  to  Christ." 
Many  of  the  converts,  as  soon  as  they  get  pardon, 
come  up  the  aisle,  talking  as  they  pass  along  to  the 
altar  to  tell  me  and  Charles,  what  God  has  done  for 
them. 

A  young  Kaffir-man  who  came  up  and  told  us  that 
God  had  saved  him,  then  fell  down,  and,  swinging 
by  the  altar- rail,  wept  for  an  hour.  "  Charles,  what's 
the  matter  with  that  poor  fellow  ?  He  don't  look  as 
though  he  was  saved."  Charles  questions  him,  and 
replies, — "  He  used  to  belong  to  the  school  here  for 
two  years,  and  was  taught  to  read  God's  word ;  but 
he  says  he  was  a  scabby  goat,  and  was  turned  out 
of  the  flock,  and  became  a  heathen.  He  says  he  has 
received  pardon  for  all  his  sins,  but  has  been  so  wicked 
and  ungrateful,  he  cannot  forgive  himself/5 

There  are  Bambana's  two  sons  down,  pleading  for 
pardon.  They  were  there  last  night.  Now  one  of 
them  enters  into  liberty,  runs  and  kisses  his  mother, 
and  the  father  and  mother  embrace  him,  and  weep, 
and  thank  God.  Now  the  other  accepts  Christ,  and 
joins  in  the  family-bundle  of  grateful  embraces. 

A  fine-looking  Kaffir- woman  walks  up  to  the  front, 
and,  in  a  most  emphatic,  yet  most  graceful,  manner, 
is  telling  Brother  Pamla  some  marvellous  story. 

"What  is  all  that  about,  Charles?" 

"  She  says  she  once  knew  the  Lord,  and  was  a  Class- 


246  LESSEYTON. 

leader,  but  had  wickedly  fallen  away."  Says  she, 
"  I  was  so  foolish  and  false  to  God,  that  I  went  away 
and  left  the  oxen,  wagon,  and  precious  cargo  stand- 
ing in  the  road  ;  but  oh,  how  wonderful  is  the  love  of 
God,  He  has  forgiven  all  my  sins,  and  restored  me 
to  my  place  in  His  family."  See  an  old  man  away 
at  the  lower  end  of  the  chapel.  He  has  just  found 
Jesus.  He  mounts  a  form  and  talks  to  the  people. 
Now  he  comes  up  the  aisle,  weeping  and  talking. 
Brother  Bambana  has  seated  himself  at  the  end  of  a 
form  near  the  altar.  The  weeping  old  man  suddenly 
seizes  Bambana's  foot,  and,  nearly  jerking  the  old 
man  off  his  seat,  kisses  the  bottom  of  his  boot.  We 
have  heard  of  washing  the  disciples'  feet,  and  of 
kissing  the  Pope's  toe ;  but  to  kiss  the  sole  of  a 
Kaffir's  boot,  is  a  new  idea.  On  inquiry,  we  learn 
that  this  old  man,  just  converted,  is  Bambana's 
shepherd,  and  because  his  master  was  so  faithful  and 
kind  as  often  to  talk  to  him  about  his  soul,  he  was 
very  angry  with  his  master;  but  now  that  he  has 
found  salvation,  he  sees  that  his  master  was  the  best 
earthly  friend  he  had,  and  he  has  taken  that  method 
of  expressing  his  humiliation  and  gratitude.  These 
are  but  glimpses  of  the  indescribable  scenes  of  that 
day.  The  trouble  was,  that  having  to  preach  at 
three  p.m.  to  the  natives  in  Queen's  Town,  eight  miles 
distant,  and  conduct  a  fellowship- meeting  for  the 
whites  at  night,  our  time  in  Lesseyton  was  too  short. 
During  our  two  services  there,  however,  the  names 
of  fifty-eight  new  converts  had  been  recorded,  and 


THE    MILK- SACK.  247 

about  one  hundred  seekers  left.  Many  of  the  young 
converts  were  aged  persons. 

At  the  close  of  our  last  service  an  old  man  stood 
up  and  made,  what  seemed  a  most  earnest,  yet  very 
dispassionate  speech,  which  was,  in  effect,  as 
Charles  interpreted,  "  I  cannot  let  you  go  away,  sir, 
without  acknowledging  the  great  obligation  we  are 
under  to  God,  and  to  you,  His  servant,  for  these 
services.  In  these  remarks  I  know  I  but  express 
the  heartfelt  gratitude  of  all  the  people  on  ihe 
station/'  He  used  many  figures  to  illustrate  his 
statements.  One  was  that  on  my  first  visit,  I  had 
hung  up  the  "milk-sack;  but  that  the  milk  was 
sweet,  and  they  got  no  nourishment,  but  now  the 
milk  is  good,  and  you  have  given  us  a  great  feast." 
Milk  hung  up  in  a  cowskin-sack  till  it  becomes  sour 
and  thick  is  a  staple  article  of  food  among  the 
Kaffirs,  and  the  milk-sack  is  such  a  sacred  thing 
that  no  woman  is  allowed  to  touch  it,  and  but  one 
responsible  man,  for  the  household  has  charge  of 
it ;  but  a  Kaffir,  who  would  drink  sweet  milk,  would 
be  considered  not  a  man,  but  a  babe.  "We  bade 
adieu  to  our  dear  friends  at  Lesseyton,  and  hastened 
on  to  our  appointment  in  Queen's  Town. 

That  was  my  last  night  in  Queen's  Town.  The 
next  night  I  expected  to  preach  at  "  Warner's/' 
fifty  miles  distant  on  our  route  through  Kaffraria. 

"We  had  completed  our  arrangements,  and  were 
ready  for  an  early  start  next  morning.  Our  party 
consisted  of  my  friend,  Mr.  James  Roberts,  and  my- 


248  LESSEYTON. 

self  in  the  cart,  Charles  Painla,  on  a  little  bay-pony, 
which  had  carried  him  over  one  hundred  miles  from 
Annshaw,  and  my  son  Stuart  on  a  sorrel  "  trippling" 
Kaffir-pony  I  bought  for  him  at  Kamastone. 

It  was  hard  to  part  with  such  dear  friends  as 
Brother  and  Sister  Dugmore.  Two  of  their  daugh- 
ters and  a  son  had  been  saved  at  our  series,  and  three 
other  sons  were  among  the  seekers.  Up  to  that  time 
twenty-three  sons  and  daughters  of  our  missionaries, 
in  different  parts  of  the  colony,  had  found  peace  at  our 
meetings.  At  our  final  farewell,  Brother  Dugmore, 
a  man  who  gives  to  God  all  the  glory  for  His  work, 
but  a  dear  lover  of  the  brethren,  hung  round  my 
neck  and  wept,  and  said,  "  God  bless  you,  my  dear 
brother,  you  have  brought  salvation  to  my  house." 

This  was  Thursday,  the  19  th  of  July.  The  pro- 
gress of  the  work  in  Queen's  Town,  and  Lesseyton 
may  be  illustrated  by  a  few  extracts  from  letters  I 
subsequently  received  from  Brother  Dugmore. 

By  date  of  31st  of  July,  he  writes,  "  Brother 
Bertram  has  got  home.  On  Sunday  he  preached  to 
the  division  of  his  people,  speaking  the  Dutch  lan- 
guage, (you  did  not  see  that  location).  The  work 
broke  out  gloriously  among  them.  In  the  afternoon 
at  the  Kaffir  service,  such  an  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  took  place,  that  they  could  not  get  away  till 
eight  o'clock  at  night.  Brother  Bertram  wishes  me 
to  tell  you  that  he  does  not  think  there  are  any  men 
left  on  the  station  who  have  not  been  brought  into 
the  fold  of  Christ.     The  Gospel  has  triumphed  over 


GRAXD   TRIUMPHS.  249 

the  greatest  enemies  it  had  amongst  them.  The 
most  bitter  opposer,  on  finding  peace,  exclaimed, 
'  Now,  Sandili,  may  come,  now  Krilie  may  come  (two 
of  the  most  notoriously  wicked  warrior-chiefs  in  all 
that  region),  '  since  I,  the  greatest  of  enemies  to 
Christ,  have  come  to  Him,  nobody  need  stay  aw  y ! '  " 

By  letter  of  the  19th  of  August,  he  writes,  ''I 
have  been  hoping  to  hear  the  result  of  your  visit  to 
our  Kaffirland  Stations.  I  have  heard  some  tidings 
that  have  gladdened  my  heart,  none  more  than  the 
conversion  of  my  dear  Brother  Warner's  wandering 
son. 

The  'leaven'  leavens  on  amongst  us.  I  hope  to 
begin  the  next  quarter  with  an  increase  of  two  hun- 
dred members.  Our  services  are  seasons  '  rich  in 
blessing/  Our  regular  congregations  steadily  in- 
crease. Our  older  members  are  thirsting  for  a  full 
salvation.  God  has  in  mercy  baptized  my  soul  anew, 
and  I  am  reaching  forward.  "We  trust  to  hear  blessed 
news  from  Natal.  Why  should  not  Colenso  himself 
be  converted  ?  " 

By  letter  of  October  27th,  Brother  Dugmore 
writes,  "  The  results  of  the  awakening  which  God 
vouchsafed  to  the  three  Circuits  of  Queen's  Towl 
division  (Queen's  Town,  Kamastone,  and  Lesseyton), 
"  while  you  were  among  us,  we  cannot  even  yet 
fully  estimate,  but  I  think  that  not  less  than  six 
nundred  have  been  received  into  the  Societies.  God 
nas  enabled  me  to  la}''  hold  again  of  the  blessing  in 
which  I  rejoiced  in  years  past.     I  walk  in  the  light, 


250  LESSEYTON. 

I  feel  that  my  soul  has  returned  to  her  rest,  and  that 
it  is  glorious  to  have  an  abiding  sense  of  that  '  pre- 
sence '  which  makes  the  Christian's  paradise.  Glory 
be  to  God  for  "  full  salvation  !  '  " 

Again,  in  my  last  letter  from  Brother  Dugmore, 
before  leaving  Africa,  he  says,  "  I  do  most  heartily 
adore  the  goodness  of  God  in  blessing  your  labours 
in  Natal,  as  He  has  done.  If  the  work  after  your 
departure  follows  the  rule  elsewhere,  the  numbers  of 
conversions  will  go  on  increasing.  In  several  places 
those  numbers  have  doubled,  or  more  than  doubled, 
since  you  left." 


CHAPTER  XYIL 

WARNERS. 

The  residence  of  J.  C.  "Warner,  Esq.,  known  by 
the  name  of  "  Woodhouse  Forests,"  is  the  head  of  a 
new  mission,  embracing  a  portion  of  Tembookie 
territory,  and  a  part  of  Fingo-land,  under  the  super- 
intendence of  a  very  active,  promising  young  mis- 
sionary, Rev.  E.  J.  Barrett. 

Brother  and  Sister  Warner  are  earnest  and  useful 
missionaries ;  in  fact,  as  they  once  were  in  name 
and  official  relationship.  He  was  a  useful  missionary 
among  the  Kaffirs  for  a  number  of  years,  but  partly 
through  failure  of  health  for  a  time  and  other  reasons, 
satisfactory,  I  believe,  to  all  parties,  he  resigned  his 
official  relation,  but  has  continued  true  to  the  "Wes- 
leyan  Church  and  her  mission-work  in  a  different 
relation.  He  is  "British  Eesident  for  Kaffraria;" 
the  representative  of  the  English  Government  to 
all  the  tribes  living  between  Cape  Colony  and  Natal, 
and  being  a  Wesleyan  preacher  he  is  in  a  position 
of  great  responsibility  and  usefulness.  He  has  always 
been  opposed  to  the  establishment  of  mission  stations 


252  WARNERS. 

on  the  principle  of  vesting  in  the  missionary  magis- 
terial functions  to  be  exercised  over  the  people  on 
the  mission-station. 

The  unmodified  heathenism  of  Kaffraria  at  the 
time  the  mission-stations  were  established  was 
considered  so  corrupt  and  so  corrupting,  and  the  civil 
administration  of  the  chiefs  so  arbitrary,  capri- 
cious, and  so  antagonistic  to  Christianity,  that  it  was 
felt  to  be  necessary  to  organize  the  people  of  the 
stations  into  a  separate  civil  community,  acknow- 
ledging the  sovereignty  of  the  chiefs,  but  protected 
and  governed  by  the  missionary  under  a  kind  of 
treaty  stipulation  with  the  chiefs.  The  Heathen 
chiefs  are  not  supposed  to  be  competent  to  govern  a 
Christian  community,  and,  I  presume,  in  a  majority 
of  cases,  prefer  to  be  relieved  from  such  a  responsi- 
bility, and  hence,  by  mutual  agreement,  that,  devolves 
on  the  missionary,  extending  not  simply  to  his 
church-members,  but  to  all  the  people  resident  on 
the  mission-station. 

The  mission- station,  as  per  agreement,  is  a  "city 
of  refuge  "  to  which  persons  suspected  of  witchcraft 
or  other  undefinable  offences,  endangering  their 
lives,  may  flee  and  be  safe,  while  they  remain  under 
the  shield  of  the  missionary. 

The  missionary,  therefore,  occupies  the  position  of 
a  civil  magistrate,  having  jurisdiction  over  the  dis- 
trict embraced  in  the  lines  of  his  grants  for  mission 
purposes.    He  must  hear  complaints,  try  cases,  inflict 


GISTER1AL  AND  MINISTERIAL  OFFICES.     253 

penalties  in  the  form  of  fines,  or  expulsion  from  the 
station,  subject  to  an  appeal  from  his  decisions  to  the 
paramount  chief.  On  the  other  hand,  he  is  answer- 
able to  his  chief  for  the  good  conduct  of  his  mission 
people.  I  don't  give  this  as  the  theory,  with  which 
the  men  of  God,  who  hazarded  their  lives  among 
those  heathen,  in  founding  those  focal  centres  of 
Gospel  agency,  set  out  at  the  commencement,  but 
the  theory  defining  the  developed  facts  as  we  find 
them. 

An  extract  from  a  letter  I  received  from  Rev.  Win. 
Shepstone,  dated  November  13th,  1866,  touching 
this  subject,  will  show  the  legal  status  of  the  mis- 
sionary in  Kaffraria : — 

A  Kaffir  chief  has  Amapahati  in  the  different  parts  of 
his  country.  These  preside  over  certain  districts  or  rivers. 
In  all  cases  uf  litigation  the  case  should  first  come  before 
the  Amapahati  to  be  settled,  or  adjudged,  but  either  is  at 
liberty  to  appeal  against  the  judgment  of  the  Amapahati  to 
the  chief.  Now  this  is  the  power  which  legally  belongs  to 
a  missionary  in  Kaffirland.  He  is  no  chieftain  ;  but  is  a 
subordinate  magistrate  under  the  chief  magistrate,  to  whom 
an  appeal  can  always  be  made  against  his  decisions,  if  either 
party  desires  it.  Whatever  he  gains  beyond  this  must  be 
moral  power,  even  such  a  diabolical  practice  as  the 
Umpouhlo,  the  missionary  must  oppose  by  moral  suasion. 
When  Mr.  Shaw  and  I  entered  on  the  Kaffirland  mission 
in  1823,  now  forty-three  years  ago  this  month,  the  practice 
of  Umpouhlo  was  rampant,  revolting  to  every  sense  of  moral 
feeling,  to  a  degree  one  does  not  like  to  look  back  at.  We 
were  without   any  authority,  we  were  no  chiefs ;  but  Mr. 


254 


WARNERS. 


Shaw  succeeded  in  that  tribe  in  getting  it  put  down  by 
authority,  not  his  authority,  but  the  chiefs.  It  was  moral 
power.  For  this  successful  use  of  his  influence,  the  women 
of  the  tribe  gave  him  the  cognomen  of  "  Likaka  laba  Fasi  " 
— the  shield  of  the  women  :  nor  did  I  ever  hear  of  the 
practice  being  revived  or  attempted  in  that  tribe  afterwards, 
and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  from  that  time  the  practice 
declined  among  the  other  tribes  on  the  frontier. 

That  missionaries  and  ministers  everywhere  should 
prudently  exert  their  influence  for  the  removal  of 
national  sins,  however  disguised  in  legal  liverv,  is  a 
fact,  that  but  few  persons  will  deny ;  but  how  far  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel  should  encumber  himself  with 
administrative  responsibilities,  is  a  question  to  be 
carefully  considered,  and  yet  one  which  must  be  de- 
termined, in  many  cases,  by  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  any  given  case,  which  should  come  under 
the  head  of  exceptions,  as  the  rule  certainly  is  that 
he  should  be  a  man  of  one  work. 

In  regard  to  this  mission-station  question,  a  great 
deal  may  be  said  on  both  sides. 

1st.  It  is  a  good  thing  for  the  missionary,  as  far 
as  possible,  to  be  able  to  make  and  execute  all  his 
arrangements  for  the  salvation,  the  education,  and 
the  civilization  of  the  heathen,  without  authoritative 
heathenish  interference. 

2nd.  It  is  a  good  thing  in  those  regions  of  heathen- 
ish darkness,  where  there  is  so  much  "  smelling  out," 
and  murder,  on  a  suspicion  of  witchcraft,  to  have  a 
sanctuary  to  which    the   poor  persecuted  wretches 


BOTH    SIDES   OF   THE    QUESTION.  255 

may  flee,  and  escape  torture  and  death.  Many  lives 
have  thus  been  saved  at  the  mission-stations. 

3rd.  It  is  thought  to  be  a  very  good  thing  for  the 
converts  from  heathenism,  to  have  the  opportunity 
of  "  coming  out  from  among  them,"  literally,  to  live 
on  the  mission-station,  where  they  may  escape  the 
daily  taunts  of  their  wicked  neighbours,  and  the 
danger  of  contact  with  their  abominable  practices. 
Hence  the  rule  has  been  for  the  converts,  with  but 
very  few  exceptions,  to  move  at  once,  and  become 
citizens  of  the  mission  community.  There  are,  to  be 
sure,  some  "  out-stations,"  but  they  are  under  the 
same  administration  as  that  of  the  head  station.  I 
met  with  some  good  missionaries  in  South  Africa,  who 
consider  it  next  to  an  impossibility  for  a  converted 
Kaffir  to  live  among  his  heathen  neighbours,  and 
remain  a  Christian. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  said, — 

1st.  The  missionary,  having  the  responsibility  of 
administrating  this  complex  government  of  "  Church 
and  State,"  will  so  have  his  time  and  energies  con- 
sumed with  perplexing  cares,  as  greatly  to  interfere 
with  his  ministerial  effectiveness  on  his  station,  and 
leave  him  but  little  time  or  strength  for  proclaiming 
the  Gospel  beyond. 

2nd.  The  station  becoming  the  sanctuary  and 
home  for  all  sorts  of  refugees,  attracts  a  great 
many  worthless  characters,  who  are  often  pointed 
at  and  quoted,  by  the  colonists,  as  well  as  by  the 
heathen,  as  fair  specimens  of  the  mission  people,  and 


256  WARNERS. 

however  unjust  the  charge,  the  stations  thus  suffer 
great  disgrace.  The  fact  too,  that  so  many  supposed 
witches  find  a  refuge  on  the  mission-stations,  a  large 
proportion  of  the  Kaffirs  regard  them  as  the  home 
and  haunt  of  the  wizards,  and  therefore  places  to  be 
dreaded  and  shunned. 

3rd.  That  by  collecting  all  the  converts  into  one 
body  together,  the  Gospel  leaven  is  separated  from 
the  lump  it  should  leaven,  and  a  hot-bed,  feeble  type 
of  Christian  character  is  developed  in  the  station, 
instead  of  a  heroic  martyr  type,  which  alone  can 
successfully  grapple  with  heathenism  defensively, 
and  aggressively.  Without  going  into  the  details  of 
the  subject  here,  I  believe  I  have  fairly  stated  the 
strong  points  on  both  sides,  and  I  shall  have  occasion 
from  personal  observation,  to  furnish  facts  illustrating 
both  sides  of  the  question.  It  is  by  no  means  a  mere 
abstract  question,  but  a  subject  of  vital  practical 
importance  to  successful  missionary  enterprise  in 
Africa,  and  in  every  other  mission  field  in  heathen- 
ism. When  I  entered  Kaffraria,  I  knew  nothing 
about  this  subject;  I  had  never  heard  it  discussed, 
and  hence  went  into  the  field  of  observation,  an  un- 
prejudiced learner,  and  came  out  with  my  facts  and 
conclusions,  which  shall  be  forthcoming  in  due  time. 

That  was  a  moonless  night.  From  Queen's  Town, 
we  had  travelled  that  day  over  a  hilly  rough  road 
forty-six  miles,  and  had  yet  four  miles  of  our  clay's 
journey  to  make  in  the  dark. 

Rev.  E.  J.  Barrett  came  to  meet  us  and  to  be  our 


TI1E  GREAT  TUMBLE.  257 

guide.  We  Lad  in  a  pair  of  horses,  that  had 
been  sent  on  thirty  miles  the  day  before,  and  they 
were  fresh  and  fiery,  and  not  so  manageable  as  they 
became  a  couple  of  hundred  miles  further  along. 
Descending  what  appeared  to  be  a  smooth  bit  of 
road,  at  the  rate  of  about  "  eight  knots/'  a  sudden 
jolt  sent  us  both  over  the  "larboard/'  headforemost 
down  the  hill.  "We  thought  the  thing  had  upset, 
but,  relieved  of  our  weight,  it  righted  up;  and  when 
we  got  our  "bearings,"  we  heard  the  rattle  of  the 
horses'  hoofs  and  the  cart  wheels  away  in  the  distance. 

Brother  Barrett,  who  was  a  few  roads  ahead  of  us, 
came  rushing  back,  crying  out — "  Are  ye  killed  ?  " 

".Not  dead  yet,  pursue  the  horses  as  Hist  as  you  can/' 

Away  he  galloped  in  pursuit. 

"We  gathered  ourselves  up,  and  found  that,  though 
our  clothing  was  torn,  and  we  were  scratched  and 
bruised  considerably,  there  were  no  bones  broken, 
bo  we  picked  up  a  load  of  rugs  and  coats  cast  out  of 
the  cart,  and  worked  our  way  in  the  dark  to  Mr. 
Warner's.  About  an  hour  later,  Mr.  Barrett  arrived, 
telling  how  many  miles  he  had  travelled  in  different 
directions,  but  could  get  no  tidings  of  the  runaway 
horses  and  cart.  A  company  of  Kaffirs  were  then 
sent  out  in  all  directions.  Different  parties  up  to 
midnight  reported  no  success.  We  had  comfortable 
lodgings  in  Mr.  Barrett's  Kaffir  hut,  built  by  him- 
self. It  is  eighteen  feet  in  diameter,  seven  feet  walls, 
with  an  elevation  at  the  apex  of  about  fifteen  feet.  Tho 
*  British  Besident,"  and  family,  live  in  a  larger  but 

s 


253 


WARNERS. 


more  rustic  Kaffir  hat  near  by.  lie  is  building  a  good 
dwelling,  which  was  nearly  ready  for  the  roof  when  wo 
were  there.  At  the  dawn  of  next  morning,  Brothers 
Warner,  Roberts,  and  Barrett,  went  to  the  place  of 
disaster,  and  saw  where  the  upper  cart  wheel  had 
struck  a  large  ant-hill  causing  our  ejectment,  hence 
tracing  the  "spore,"  they  found  that  the  horses 
had  run  down  the  hill,  a  distance  of  a  quarter 
of  a  mile,  and  turned  at  a  right  angle  away  from 
the  road.  Further  along,  the  cart  "spore"  was 
within  three  inches  of  a  precipice,  over-hanging 
a  little  lake,  deep  enough  to  have  drowned  the 
horses,  had  the  cart  gone  over  and  drawn  them  in. 
About  a  mile  from  the  road  in  the  "veldt/'  they  found 
the  horses  standing  still,  attached  to  the  cart  as  when 
we  were  driving  them,  everything  right,  even  the 
whip  stood  erect  in  its  place.  I  was  thankful,  though 
not  surprised,  for  I  had  said  the  night  before 
that,  as  we  were  doing  work  for  God,  and  could  not 
replace  our  conveyance  nearer  than  Queen's  Town, 
and  as  <m\  gngagernents  demanded  haste,  I  did  not 
doubt  that  He  who  takes  care  even  of  the  sparrows 
cared  much  more  for  the  souls  we  might  be  instru- 
mental in  saving  in  Kaffraria,  and  would  see  to  it 
that  our  animals  and  conveyance  would  be  preserved 
from  harm,  and  that  we  should  pursue  our  journey 
in  safety. 

Rev.  E.  J.  Barrett  is  a  young  man  of  great  in- 
dustry and  useful  missionary  talents.  He  has  been 
tut  three  years  in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  but  has 


OTJT-DOOK   SERVICES.  259 

eo  far  learned  the  Kaffir  language  as  to  preach 
through  it  fluently  without  an  interpreter.  He  has 
no  family,  and  while  his  head-quarters  are  at  Brother 
"Warner's,  he  is  almost  continually  travelling  and 
preaching  among  the  Kaffirs,  and  lodging  with  them 
in  their  huts.  His  circuit,  though  on  the  borders  of 
Fingo-land,  lies  mainly  among  the  "  Tambookie  " 
tribe  of  Kaffirs. 

He  is  preparing  to  build  a  chapel  at  "  TVoodhouse 
Forest,"  and  another  near  a  beautiful  grove  of  timber, 
five  miles  distant. 

On  Friday  morning,  the  20th  of  July,  I  selected 
a  suitable  place  for  our  preaching  and  prayer- 
meeting  in  a  beautiful  grassy  vale,  about  fou/ 
hundred  yards  from  our  hut.  I  took  some  healthy 
muscular  exercise  in  rolling  a  large  boulder  to  a 
suitable  spot  for  a  pulpit  or  platform  from  which  to 
preach. 

The  population  of  this  region  is  rather  sparse,  and 
the  notice  of  our  coming  was  veiy  short,  so  that  we 
did  not  see  the  crowds  we  had  been  accustomed  to 
see  in  older  communities.  At  eleven  a.m.  our  service 
commences.  As  I  stand  on  my  rock  pulpit,  with 
my  tall  interpreter  on  my  left,  there  is  spread  out 
before  us  a  scene  of  great  beauty.  Just  back  of 
us  is  a  little  brook  and  reed  marsh,  obliging  all 
our  hearers  to  remain  in  front  of  us.  From  this 
brook,  in  our  rear,  rises  a  high,  rocky,  grassy, 
wooded  hill,  an  angular  branch  of  the  main 
mountain    to    our    right  which    is    adorned    with 


2G0 


■WARNERS. 


fine    forest    trees.     In    front  of  its  rises  a  hio-h, 
smooth  ridge,  covered  with  tall  grass.     To  our  left 
we  see  the  huts  of  Brothers  Warner  and  Barrett, 
the  walls  of  the  new  residence  of  Mr.  "Warner,  tho 
native  village,  and  an  extensive    open   undulating 
country,  with  its  lovely  grassy  slopes,  enlivened  by 
the  herds  of  the  Kaffirs,  and  their  mealy  patches. 
Circling  in  front  of  us,  seated  on  tho  grass,  are  first 
the  women  and  children,  and  next  the  men ;  on  the 
outer  edge  of  the  circle,  to  our  left,  are  a  lot  of 
painted  heathens,  with  their   red  blankets    thrown 
loosely  round  their  naked  bodies.     The  whole  con- 
gregation   numbers   about    two    hundred   persons. 
Our  first   sermon  is  to  the  believers,  unfolJing  to 
them  God's  provisions  and  plans  for  the  salvation  of 
the  world,  administered  by  the  personal  Holy  Ghost, 
who  employs  believers  as  His  visible  agents.     We 
close   by   singing  and  prayer,    and  advise  them  to 
think  much,  and  pray  much  alone,  take  some  refresh- 
ment, and  come  again  at  three  p.m.  At  the  close  of  the 
afternoon  sermon  we  invite  the  seekers  of  pardon  to 
kneel  down  on  the  grass.     About  one  hundred  and 
forty  bow  before  the  Lord,  and  enter  into  a  peniten- 
tial struggle,  with  a  general  wailing  of  lamentation 
and  tears,  which  cease  not  for  three  hours,  only  as 
they  enter  into  liberty.     We  see  among  them  several 
of  the  red  heathens. 

"  Do  you  see  that  tall,  well-dressed  Kaffir  down  on 
his  knees  as  a  seeker  ?"  "  Yes."  -  That  is  Matan- 


KAFFIR   CHIEF    ON   HIS   KNEES.  26J 

zima,  a  Tambookie  Chief,  a  brother  of  Ngangelizwe, 
the  paramount  chief  of  the  Tarnbookie  nation."  We 
see  Charles  bending  over  the  chief  for  half  an  hour, 
trying  to  lead  him  to  Jesus.  Poor  fellow,  he  seems 
to  be  an  earnest  seeker.  Near  the  close  of  the  meet- 
ing Charles  brings  the  chief  to  me,  and  I  explain 
to  him  the  way  of  salvation  by  faith,  and  beg 
him  to  surrender  himself  to  God,  and  accept  Christ 
as  his  Saviour  now.  He. seems  very  teachable  and 
anxious  to  know  God.  Among  a  number  of  ques- 
tions I  put  to  him,  that  I  may  ascertain  the  ob- 
structions in  his  way,  and  help  him  to  consent  to 
their  removal,  I  said,  "  JMatanzima,  how  many  wives 
Lave  you  got  ?  " 

"  Two/'  said  he. 

"  How  many  children  have  you  by  them  ?" 

"  Two  children  by  one  wife,  and  one  by  the 
other." 

"  The  laws  of  Jesus  Christ  will  allow  you  to  nava 
but  one  wife.  Are  you  willing  to  retain  your 
first,  as  your  lawful  wife,  and  give  the  other  ono 
up?" 

"  Yes,"  he  replied,  promptly  ;  "  but  what  shall  I 
do  with  her  ?  " 

"  You  must  explain  to  her  that  you  do  not  put  her 
away  in  anger,  but  because  you  have  consented  to 
obey  the  laws  of  Christ,  which  allow  a  man  but  one 
wife ;  you  must  not  send  her  away  in  poverty,  but 
give  her  whatever  she  needs  for  herself  and  the  sup- 


262  WARNERS. 

port  of  her  child,  and  let  her  go  home  to  her  own 
people.'" 

"Well,"  said  he,  "I'll  bring  her  to  Mr.  Warner, 
and  let  him  settle  it." 

"  Yes,"  I  answered,  "  that  will  be  the  best  way. 
"Now  having  settled  that  matter  in  your  mind,  and 
consenting  to  give  up  all  your  sins,  you  need  not  de- 
lay your  coming  to  Jesus  Christ,  but  embrace  Ilim 
as  your  Saviour  now."  But  instead  of  a  present 
surrender,  and  a  present  acceptance  of  Christ,  I  saw 
from  his  face  that  he  was  reconsidering  the  wifo 
question,  and  wavering  in  his  purpose  to  give  up  the 
sin  of  polygamy,  and  soon  began  to  put  on  his 
gloves,  for  he  was  a  fine-looking,  well-dressed  man, 
and  said,  "  Now,  I  must  go  home."  lie  did  not  tell 
me  that  he  could  not  consent  to  Gospel  terms,  yet  I 
felt  but  little  doubt  that,  like  the  rich  young  man 
who  came  to  Jesus,  and  hearing  what  he  should  "  do 
to  inherit  eternal  life,"  he  declined  and  "  went  away 
sorrowful "  in  his  sins.  I  was  very  sorry  to  believe, 
and  to  say  to  the  brethren,  that  the  chief  wavered, 
and  would  not  remain  a  seeker  lonof. 

I  mention  this  case  to  illustrate  one  of  the  most 
6erious  difficulties  to  be  encountered  in  bringing  the 
Kaffirs  to  God — their  ancient  system  of  polygamy. 

Meantime,  about  sixty  persons  of  all  ages  pro- 
fessed to  obtain  tho  pardon  of  their  sins.  As  fast 
as  they  got  the  witness  of  forgiveness  they  were  con- 
ducted to  a  place  to  our  left  hand  to  be  examined  by 
the  missionary. 


EXAMINATION   OF   THE   YOUNG   CONVERTS.         263 

"  Now,  Brother  Barrett,"  said  I,  "you  will  please  tc 
hear  the  experience  of  these  new  converts,  and  get 
their  names  and  addresses,  so  that  you  may  know 
where  to  find  them,  and  get  them  into  class,  and  undei 
good  pastoral  training  for  God.  If  any  are  not  clear 
in  their  testimony  to  the  fact  of  conscious  pardon 
through  the  Iloly  Spirit's  witness  with  theirs,  kindly 
advise  them  to  go  back  among  the  seekers  and  seek 
till  they  get  it."  Brother  Barrett  is  an  earnest  and 
most  industrious  missionary,  but  seemed  a  little  em- 
barrassed in  the  midst  of  such  a  sudden  break-down 
of  so  many  Kaffirs,  and  rather  incredulous  as  to  the 
conversion  of  so  many  in  one  day,  but  I  begged  him 
to  examine  them  closely  and  satisfy  his  own  mind 
fully,  and  send  back  all  who  were  not  clear.  He  spent 
bo  much  time  with  each  one  that  he  did  not  have  time 
to  converse  with  more  than  half  of  them.  It  was  too 
cold  to  preach  out  that  night,  so  we  had  a  fellowship- 
meeting  in  Brother  Warner's  stable  specially  for  the 
young  converts.  Over  thirty  of  them  arose  voluntarily 
and  promptly,  one  after  another,  and  in  great  sim- 
plicity told  what  God  had  done  for  their  souls.  The 
experience  of  every  one  was  clear  except  one  man, 
who  told  about  some  great  light  that  he  had  seen 
eome  months  before  and  heard  a  voice  telling  him 
that  he  would  be  saved.  Brother  Barrett  challenged 
Lis  experience,  and  asked  him  several  close  questions. 
Charles  also  questioned  him  to  draw  out  of  him  a 
testimony  to  a  genuine  experience  of  salvation,  if  he 
was  in  possession  of  it,  but  his  tale  was  ignored,  and 


204  wahners. 

the  people  warned  against  seeking  to  see  sights  and 
to  hear  audible  voices,  "  for  the  Spirit  itself  beareth 
witness  with  our  spirits,"  not  to  our  eyes  or  cars 
hut  to  our  "spirits,  that  we  are  the  children  oi 
God."  It  was  a  very  profitable  service  for  mutual 
edification.  We  gave  them  suitable  advice,  and  I 
was  much  pleased  to  find  that  Brother  Barrett's  faith 
in  the  genuineness  of  their  conversion  nad  been  fully 
confirmed. 

Brother  Barrett,  in  a  letter,  dated  July  24th,  says, 

I  thank  God  for  your  visit  to  this  place.  I  see  more 
reason  to  hopo  for  the  salvation  of  Africa  than  ever  1  did 
before.  God  evidently  can  and  is  "willing  to  do  a  quick 
and  true  work  among  these  people.  Oi  those  who  wrcre 
here  some  were  from  other  circuits.  Ten  from  Mr.  Wake- 
ford's  circuit  professed  to  find  peace.  Some  of  the  Fin- 
goes  were  blessed.  I  conversed  more  or  less  with  them 
before  they  left,  but  have  not  yet  had  time  to  follow  them 
to  Fingo-land.  Among  the  Tambookies  of  my  own  cir- 
cuit I  have  had  a  better  opportunity  of  understanding  the 
work.  I  think  all  our  members  who  professed  any  spiritual 
life  are  quickened.  One  man,  formerly  a  dead  member, 
who  had  never  known  anything  of  spiritual  life,  is  clearly 
brought  to  God.  He  is  now  earnest  and  happy.  Several 
backsliders  have  returned,  among  them  is  Klass,  the  head 
man  of  the  station.  The  devil  tried  hard  to  keep  Klass 
away  from  Christ.  He  had  left  a  goat  in  charge  of  a  Hotten- 
tot at  the  Tsoma  river.  The  devil  ordered  his  Hottentot 
servant  to  make  off  with  the  goat  to  Kriclie's  country. 
Klass  heard  of  it  just  in  time  to  take  him  away  from  your 
morning  service.  The  Hottentot,  however,  got  drunk,  and 
was  prevented  from  starting  till  Klass  arrived  and  got  his 


THE   CHIEF   DRAWS   BACK.  265 

goat.  "We  thought  Klass  had  run  away  for  fear  he  should 
get  converted,  but  finding  his  goat  he  returned  in  time  fol 
the  afternoon  preaching,  and  the  Lord  brought  him  in. 

Most  of  the  former  seekers  have  found  peace,  and  a  few, 
who  were  not  seekers,  have  been  brought  in. 

In  a  subsequent  letter,  Brother  Barrett  confirmed 
my  fears  in  regard  to  the  chief : — 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  Matanzima,  the  Tambookie  chief 
of  "  the  right  hand  house,"  has  not  retained  the  religious 
impressions  produced  on  his  mind  by  your  preaching,  and 
has  not  even  permitted  me  to  hold  service  at  his 
place.  (Herod  heard  John  gladly,  and  "  did  many  tilings," 
but  did  not  give  up  his  stolen  wife,  and  soon  after  cut  tho 
preacher's  head  off.)  How  can  he  be  a  Christian  when  his 
powerful  counsellors  are  heathens.  I  think  the  chiefs  will 
have  to  be  moved  by  the  nation  and  not  the  nation  by  the 
chiefs.  A  Kaffir  chief  possesses  power  only  for  evil,  to 
fight,  to  "  eat  up,"  and  destroy,  but  not  to  improve  the 
condition  of  his  people. 

I  felt  very  sorry  to  leave  "  Woodhouse  Forests  " 
so  soon.  "We  had  seen  a  good  work  indeed  during 
our  one  day's  services,  but  if  we  could  have  spent  a 
week  among  them  a  great  work  might  have  been 
wrought,  but  my  limited  time  and  pre-announced 
appointments  beyond  obliged  us  to  proceed  on  our 
journey.  Saturday  morning,  the  21st  of  July,  we  bade 
adieu  to  this  new  and  interesting  mission-station, 
and  commenced  a  journey  of  fifty  miles  that  day  to 
Butterworth.  It  is  marvellous  to  look  back  and 
remember    that    the    thrilling    scenes    and   grand 


2C6  WARNERS. 

victories  at  Kamastone,  Lesseyton,  the  native 
work  and  fellowship-meeting  in  Queen's  Town, 
for  the  whites,  and  the  campaign  of  yesterday 
at  Woodhouse  Forests,  have  all  transpired  within 
the  past  week,  from  Sabbath  the  15th  to  Friday  the 
20th  of  July.  Blessed  God,  the  kingdom  is  Thine, 
the  power  is  Thine,  and  hence  the  glory  is  Thine,  all 
Thine,  only  Thine! 

Brother  Warner  furnished  us  a  pair  of  horses  to 
take  our  conveyance  twenty  miles,  to  the  "  Tsoma 
river,"  and  accompanied  us  on  horseback  several 
miles.  At  the  Tsoma  we  overtook  our  horsemen 
who  had  gone  on  early  with  the  horses,  so  as  to  give 
them  a  little  rest,  while  Brother  Warner's  pair  were 
doing  the  work  for  us.  There  is  an  old  military 
station  at  the  Tsoma,  and  at  that  time  a  small 
detachment  of  British  soldiers,  under  Col.  Barker. 
All  the  soldiers  have  since  been  withdrawn,  and  the 
station  given  to  the  Wesleyans  for  mission  pur- 
poses, and  the  Fingoes  left  to  themselves  to  keep  the 
peace  with  their  old  Kaffir  masters,  or  defend 
themselves  till  help  can  be  afforded  them  from  the 
colony.  Col.  Barker  received  us  into  his  hut,  with 
a  cordial  greeting,  and  entertained  us  with  a  good 
lunch,  with  genuine  English  hospitality.  Rev.  John 
Logdcn,  the  missionary  at  Butterworth,  had  been 
there  a  few  days  before,  and  prepared  the  way  for 
us,  and  provided  a  relay  of  fresh  horses  at  the  Tsoma, 
which  however  we  did  not  need,  and  respectfully  de- 
clined the  use  of  them. 


CAPTAIN   COBB.  267 

The  Tsoma,  which  is  a  fine  African  river,  is 
deep,  rocky,  and  dangerous  for  travellers,  but  the 
water  being  low  in  the  winter  season,  we  crossed 
without  difficulty.  On  we  go,  over  high  hills,  and 
across  deep  valleys,  through  a  country  abounding 
with  grass,  from  one  to  two  feet  high,  ripened  and 
dried  into  a  rich  orange  colour.  This  wavy  ocean  of 
grass,  which  stretches  out  in  every  direction  into  the 
immeasurable  distance,  is  interspersed  with  occasional 
groves  of  timber,  and  island-looking  rocky  hill  peaks 
and  cliffs.  About  fifteen  miles  from  the  Tsoma,  we 
met  a  Kaffir  boy,  who  said  "  Mr.  Longden  has  sent  a 
pair  of  horses  to  Capt.  Cobb's  for  you,"  pointing  across 
the  hills  towards  the  Captain's  house,  nearly  a  mile 
off  the  main  road.  So  we  "  out-spanned  "  our  horses, 
and  walked  over.  The  Captain,  who  is  a  dashing, 
but  generous  pioneer  Englishman,  gave  us  a  cordial 
welcome.  lie  is  a  magistrate,  under  Mr.  "Warner, 
over  a  portion  of  Her  Majesty's  Fingo  subjects. 
There  we.  met  the  native  teacher  from  Butterworth, 
who  had  come  to  act  as  our  guide,  and  four  or  five 
English  friends,  who  had  been  waiting  at  Butter- 
worth  for  us  two  days,  having  come  sixty  miles  from 
near  King  William's  Town,  to  attend  our  meeting, 
and  seek  the  Lord. 

Captain  Cobb  gave  us  all  a  good  dinner,  and 
showed  us  his  new  house,  orchard,  and  garden.  It 
was  really  surprising  to  see  such  improvements, 
such  beautiful  beds  of  flowers,  and  flourishing  fruit- 
trees,  where,  but  eighteen  months  ago,  the  wild  deer 


268 


WARNER?. 


roamed  without  disturbance.  The  last  eight  miles 
of  our  long  day's  journey  were  made  after  the  day 
had  departed.  The  road  was  rough  and  dangerous, 
but  our  trusty  guide  rode  before,  and  shouted,  "  To 
the  right,"  and  "  To  the  left,"  alternately,  turning 
us  away  from  rocks  and  gullies  which  might  have 
cost  us  an  upset,  at  the  peril  of  our  necks. 

By  the  mercy  of  our  Master,  we  safely  reached 
Butterworth  about  eight  p.m.,  and  were  heartily 
welcomed  and  most  kindly  entertained  by  Rev. 
John  Longden  and  his  excellent  missionary  wife, 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 

BUTTERWOETH    (iGETTWA). 

This  mission-station  was  established  tinder  tne 
general  superintendence  of  Rev.  W.  Shaw,  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Shrewsbury,  assisted  by  Rev.  "W".  Shep- 
stone,  in  1827.  The  great  Chief  Hintza,  of  the 
Amagcaleka  tribe,  had  not  given  his  consent  for  the 
establishment  of  the  mission  in  his  country,  but  had 
not  refused,  so  Mr.  Shrewsbury  proceeded  in  the 
work  by  faith.  "  But  a  few  months  after/'  says  Mr. 
Shaw,  "  with  great  Kaffir  ceremony,  he  sent  to  the 
station  one  of  his  brothers,  and  a  company  of  his 
counsellors,  mostly  old  men  (counsellors  of  Kauta, 
his  father)  with  the  following  remarkable  message— 
1  Hintza  sends  to  you  these  men,  that  you  may  know 
them  ;  they  are  now  your  friends,  for  to-day  Hintza 
adopts  you  into  the  same  family,  and  makes  the 
mission  the  head  of  that  house.  If  any  one  does  you 
wrong  apply  to  them  for  redress.  If  in  anything 
you  need  help,  ask  them  for  assistance  ;'  and  as  a  con- 
firmation of  the  whole,  pointing  to  a  fat  ox  they  had 
brought,  '  There  is  a  cake  of  bread  from  the  house  of 
Kauta,"' 


270  BUTTERWORTH. 

The  mission,  thus  placed  under  the  protection  of  law 
by  the  blessing  of  God,  and  the  fostering  care  of  several 
successive  missionaries,  grew  and  prospered  for  six 
years,  when  its  harmonious  relations  were  disturbed 
by  the  Kaffir  war  of  1833-4.  Iiintza  joined  in  tho 
war  against  the  colonists.  "  behaved  treacherously 
toward  certain  European  traders,  who  were  at  the 
time  in  his  country,  and  it  was  believed  also,  that  ho 
contemplated  the  murder  of  his  missionary/'  llev. 
John  AylifF,  and  the  destruction  of  the  station. 

Rev.  "W.  J.  Davis  gave  me  an  account  of  how 
Brother  Ayliff  escaped,  and,  as  it  will  illustrate  a 
phase  of  missionary  life  in  this  place,  now  sacred  in 
my  own  memory,  I  will  give  the  substance  of  his 
narrative.  "  Hintza's  purpose  to  kill  Mr.  Ayliff  \va3 
revealed  to  him  by  Hintza's  '  great  wife,'  Nomsa. 
All  the  trails  and  roads  were  guarded  by  spies,  so 
that  there  was  no  possibility  of  his  escape,  but  ho 
managed  to  get  a  letter  conveyed  about  fifty  miles, 
to  Brother  Davis  at  Clarhebury.  Mr.  Davis  sent  to 
Morley  Mission  Station,  thirty-five  miles  distant,  and 
got  the  missionary  there,  lie  v.  Mr.  Palmer,  to  join 
him  in  a  trip  to  Butterworth,  to  try  and  rescue  their 
brother  missionary  from  the  murderous  designs  of 
Iiintza.  On  their  arrival  at  Butterworth,  after  con- 
sultation with  Brother  Ayliff,  they  resolved  that  they 
would  go  and  see  the  chief  himself,  and  thus  take 
the  '  bull  by  the  horns  '  at  once.  They  immediately 
gent  out  runners,  and  collected  a  party  of  men  as 


MR.   AYLIFF   RESCUED.  271 

guides  and  guards,  and  set  off  to  ITintza's  '  Great 
Place/  about  sixty  miles  distant.  They  rode  boldly 
into  the  chief's  kraal,  and  found  him  seated  in  coun* 
cil,  surrounded  by  his  '  Arnapakati.' 

"Having  gone  through  all  the  ceremony  common  in 
approaching  such  a  dignitary,  Brother  Davis,  addres- 
sing the  chief,  said — "  Ilintza,  we  have  come  to  talk 
to  you  about  your  missionary.  We  have  heard  that 
you  have  given  orders  to  kill  Ayliff,  and  now  he  has 
come,  and  we  have  come  with  him  to  see  what  yoa 
have  against  him.  We  know  that  you  are  at  war 
with  the  English,  but  we  are  missionaries,  we  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  war.  If  Ayliff  has  done  any- 
thing worthy  of  death,  he  don't  refuse  to  die.  You 
can  try  him  and  put  him  to  death  in  an  honourable 
way,  but  it  don't  become  a  great  chief  like  you,  to 
waylay  him  like  an  assassin  and  kill  him  behind  a 
bush.  lie  is  your  missionary.  He  came  into  your 
country  with  your  consent,  and  put  himself  under 
your  protection,  and  you  should  deal  honourably 
with  him.  If  he  has  done  wrong  then  tell  him  so 
to  his  face ;  if  guilty  of  anything  worthy  of  death, 
convict  him,  and  kill  him.  Or,  if  you  want  to  get 
rid  of  him,  give  him  a  pass  out  of  your  country,  and 
he  will  at  once  go  away  and  leave  you,  but  it  would 
be  a  great  injustice,  and  a  disgrace  to  you  as  a 
great  chief,  to  kill  your  missionary  behind  a  bush/- 
Ilintza  seemed  greatly  agitated  while  Davis  was  talk- 
ing, and  was  silent  for  some  time.     Then  he  ordered 


272  BUTTERWORTH   (iGEUWA). 

food  for  the  missionaries,  and  told  them  to  sit  down 
for  the  night,  and  he  would  meet  them  in  council 
the  next  clay. 

"  That  night,  after  the  missionary  party  had  sung 
and  prayed  in  their  hut,  Nomsa,  the  chief's  '  great 
wife/  came  in  and  said,  '  Sing  again/ 

"  '  Why  should  we  sing  again  ?  We  have  just  had 
singing  and  prayer/ 

"  '  I  have  a  word  to  say  to  you,  and  I  don't  want 
anybody  but  you  to  hear  it.  If  you  sing,  they  will 
think  that  after  the  singing  you  will  be  praying, 
and  they  won't  come  near/  so  they  sang  again. 

"  Then  said  she,  f  You  have  done  well  to  come  to 
the  chief.  It  will  be  all  right  to-morrow,  Ay  HIT 
will  be  allowed  to  remain,  and  get  promise  of  protec- 
tion. But  if  he  remains  he  might  tramp  on  a  snake 
in  the  grass,  and  he  had  better  not  remain/ 

"  The  next  day  they  met  the  chief  in  council,  and 
Ilintza  said,  '  You  have  done  well  to  come  to  me. 
Some  miscreant  might  have  done  Ayliff  harm,  but  it 
will  be  all  right  now.  Ayliff  may  go  back  to  Butter- 
worth,  and  sit  down  in  peace,  and  it  will  be  all 
right/ 

"  They  returned,  and  soon  ascertained  that  there 
were  no  more  conspirators  in  the  way,  seeking 
Ayliff's  life,  and  as  the  way  was  now  open,  the  mis- 
sionaries unanimously  agreed  that  it  was  better,  in 
view  of  the  war  troubles,  and  all  the  circumstances 
in  the  case,  that  Brother  Ayliff  should  take  Nomsa'a 
advice ;  so  he  made  arrangements  as  early  as  con- 


PROTKACTED  MEETING  OF  THE  "  RAIN-MAKERS."    273 

venient,  and,  with  his  mission  people,  left  Hintza*  s 
country. 

The  chief  complained  afterwards  of  AylifFs  want 
of  confidence  in  him,  but  his  own  subsequent  record 
proved  the  wisdom  of  AylifF's  departure.  Soon  after 
the  mission  premises  and  village  were  plundered  and 
destroyed,  and,  before  the  war  was  over,  Hintza 
himself  was  killed. 

The  mission  was  re-established  after  the  war,  but 
was  destroyed  again  in  the  war  of  1846-7. 

"Rili,"  or  Krielie,  as  it  is  usually  spelled  to  give  the 
sound  in  English  nearest  to  the  Kaffir  guttural  R,  the 
6on  and  successor  of  Hintza,  was  anxious  for  the  re- 
building of  the  mission-house  and  chapel,  and  gave 
for  the  purpose  as  many  cattle  as  when  sold,  were 
necessary  to  cover  most  of  the  expense  of  erecting 
the  mission-buildings,  and  compensate  for  the  per- 
sonal losses  of  the  missionary. 

At  one  time,  when  Rev.  W.  J.  Davis  was  stationed 
there,  the  country  was  dried  up,  the  cattle  were 
dying,  and  there  was  a  general  apprehension  of 
famine.  The  Chief  Rili  assembled  a  large  body  of 
"  rain  makers "  near  to  the  mission  premises,  and 
with  a  great  gathering  of  the  people,  they  went  on 
with  their  incantations  and  "  vain  repetitions  "  daily 
for  a  week.  Brother  Davis  kept  himself  advised, 
through  his  agents,  of  all  their  proceedings.  Finally, 
the  rain-makers  said  they  could  not  get  any  rain,  and 
had  found  out  the  reason  why,  and  the  cause  of  the 
drought.      When    the  attention  of  the  people  was 


274  BUTTERWORTH. 

fully  arrested  by  such  an  announcement,  they  told 
their  anxious  auditors  that  the  missionaries  were  the 
cause  of  the  drought,  and  that  there  would  be  no 
rain  while  we  were  allowed  to  remain  in  the  country. 
That  brought  matters  to  a  very  serious  crisis,  for  the 
"  rain-makers  "  are  generally  very  influential,  usually 
being  doctors  or  priests  as  well.  When  the  chief 
wants  rain  he  sends  some  cattle  to  the  rain- makers 
to  offer  in  sacrifice  to  "  Imishologu,"  the  spirits  of 
their  dead,  who  are  presumed  to  have  great  power 
with  "  Tixo  "  or  God,  who  will  send  rain.  If  they 
do  not  succeed,  the  rain-maker  returns  answer  that 
the  cattle  were  not  of  the  right  colour,  that  cattle 
of  certain  peculiar  spots  were  necessary.  The  details 
of  these  spots  and  shades  of  colour  are  so  numerous 
that  the  rain-maker  can  not  only  drive  a  good  trade 
in  the  beef  line,  but  stave  off  the  issue  till,  in  the 
natural  order,  a  copious  rain  descends,  for  which  he 
claims  the  credit,  and  it  is  known  all  over  the  country 
as  such  a  "  rain-maker's  "  rain.  Thus  they  maintain 
their  influence,  and  when  a  number  of  such  men 
combine  against  a  missionary,  it  becomes  a  very 
serious  matter.  So  when  Brother  Davis  heard  of  the 
grave  charge  brought  against  the  missionaries,  and 
specially  against  himself  and  family,  as  they  were 
the  only  missionaries  there,  he  saw  that  he  must  act 
in  self-defence  at  once.  So  the  next  morning,  which 
was  Thursday,  he  rode  into  their  camp,  while  they 
were  in  the  midst  of  their  ceremonies,  and  demanded 
a  hearing.     They  stopped  their  noise  and  ccnfusioa 


A  MODERN  ELIJAH  OPENING  THE  HEAVENS.        275 

to  hear  what  he  had  to  say,  and  he  proceeded  as  fol- 
lows : — "  I  shall  give  you  a  very  short  talk.  Your 
rain-makers  say  that  the  missionaries  are  the  cause 
of  the  drought.  I  say  that  the  rain-makers  and  the 
sins  of  the  people  are  the  cause  of  the  drought.  The 
missionaries  are  as  anxious  for  rain  as  you  are,  and 
our  God  would  give  us  rain,  but  for  your  wickedness 
and  rebellion  against  Him.  Now  I  propose  that  we 
test  the  matter  between  your  rain-makers  and  the 
missionaries.  They  have  been  trying  here  for  one 
whole  week  to  bring  rain,  and  have  not  brought  ono 
drop.  Look  at  the  heavens,  there  is  not  even  the  sign 
of  a  cloud.  Now  stop  all  this  nonsense,  and  come  to 
chapel  next  Sabbath,  and  we  will  pray  to  God,  who 
made  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  to  give  us  rain,  and 
we  will  see  who  is  the  true  God,  and  who  are  His 
true  servants,  and  your  best  friends."  Then  Nomsa, 
the  great  wife  of  Hintza,  who  had  interposed  to  save 
the  life  of  Brother  Ayliff  a  few  years  before,  and  the 
great  chief  Rili,  her  son,  and  their  amapakati,  held 
a  consultation,  and  decided  to  dismiss  the  rain- 
makers at  once,  and  accept  the  issue  proposed  by 
Brother  Davis.  The  next  day  was  observed  by  this 
missionary  Elijah,  and  his  Christian  natives,  as  a  day 
of  fasting  and  prayer.  On  Sabbath  morning  the 
sun,  as  for  many  months  past,  poured  his  burning 
rays  upon  the  crisped  Kaffrarian  hills  and  valleys, 
with  their  famishing  flocks,  without  the  shadow  of 
an  intervening  cloud. 

At  the  hour  for  service  the  usual  congregation 


276  BU1TERW0ETH. 

assembled,  and  besides  them  the  great  chief  and  his 
mother,  and  many  of  the  heathen  people  from  their 
"  great-place."  There  was  a  motley  crowd  of  half-clad 
mission  natives,  a  lot  of  naked  heathens,  the  great 
chief  in  his  royal  robe,  consisting  of  a  huge  tiger- 
skin,  his  queen  mother,  with  beaded  skirt  of  dressed 
cow-skin,  and  ornamental  brass  wristlets,  armlets, 
and  head  trinkets,  and  there,  at  their  feet,  the  mis- 
sionary and  his  family — a  grand  representation  of 
Church  and  State,  all  sweltering  with  heat,  all  uneasy, 
all  anxious  to  see  a  little  cloud  arise,  but  not  one,  even 
of  the  size  of  a  man's  hand,  appeared  when  the  ser- 
vice commenced.  After  some  preliminaries,  Brother 
Davis  asked  the  people  to  kneel  down,  and  unite 
with  him  in  prayer  to  the  Lord  God  of  Elijah,  to 
send  them  rain  from  heaven.  The  man  of  God 
pleaded  his  own  cause,  and  that  of  the  people  at  the 
mercy-seat,  and  importuned.  No  man  was  sent  to 
look  toward  the  sea ;  but  while  they  remained  on 
their  knees  in  solemn  awe,  in  the  presence  of  God, 
they  heard  the  big  rain  drops  begin  to  patter  on  the 
zinc  roof  of  the  chapel,  and  lo,  a  copious  rain,  which 
continued  all  that  afternoon  and  all  night.  The 
whole  region  was  so  saturated  with  water  that  the 
river  near  by  became  so  swollen  that  the  chief  and 
his  mother  could  not  cross  it  that  night,  and  hence 
had  to  remain  at  the  mission-station  till  the  next 
clay.  That  seemed  to  produce  a  great  impression  on 
the  minds  of  the  chief,  his  mother,  and  the  heathen 
party  in  favour  of  God  and  His  missionaries,  and 
Brother  Davis  got  the  name  of  a  great  rain-maker ; 


KAFFIR  PROPHET'S  DESTRUCTION  OF  CATTLE.       277 

but  signs,  wonders,  and  even  miracles,  will  not 
change  the  hearts  of  sinners,  for  Nornsa  lived  and 
died  a  heathen,  and  her  royal  son  remains  an  in- 
creasing dark  and  wicked  heathen  to  this  day. 

The  Butterworth  Mission  Station  was  destroyed 
the  third  time  during  the  Kaffir  war  of  1851-2,  and 
lay  waste  about  ten  years. 

About  the  year  1855,  Krielie  resorted  to  a  daring 
and  desperate  plan  for  forcing  his  people  into  an 
exterminating  war  against  the  colonists,  which 
destroyed  thousands  of  his  people,  and  deprived  him 
of  about  half  of  his  country,  including  the  site  of 
Butterworth  Station.  His  plan  was  to  strip  his 
people  of  all  their  wealth,  which  consisted  of  "  the 
cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills,"  and  thus  combine  with 
their  patriotism,  and  love  of  booty,  a  dire  necessity, 
^7hich  would  precipitate  his  whole  people  into  the 
colony,  "  drive  the  whites  into  the  sea,"  and  seize 
the  spoils. 

So  taking  advantage  of  their  superstitious  gulli- 
bility, a  prophet  of  renown  among  them  com- 
manded that  all  their  cattle  should  be  killed,  and 
when  all  were  gone,  there  would  be  a  resurrection 
of  all  their  cattle,  and  the  cattle  of  their  ancestors, 
greatly  improved  in  size  and  quality,  and  countless 
in  numbers,  and  all  who  would  believe  the  prophet, 
and  kill  their  cattle,  should  feast  on  beef  all  the  days 
of  their  lives,  but  the  disobedient  would  be  turned 
into  moths. 

Ten&  of  thousands  of  cattle  were  slain.  Krielie's 
whole  country    was   desolated   and  denuded   of  it» 


278  BUTTERWORTH. 

fine  supply  of  food.  The  colonists  were  in  great 
alarm,  and  Sir  George  Grey  was  sent  as  governor, 
specially  to  meet  the  pending  war  emergency.  By 
the  time  he  was  ready  for  war,  he  found  Krielie's 
Kaffirs  starving  by  the  thousand,  and  instead  of 
pouring  into  the  colony  as  fierce  warriors  they  came 
as  beggars.  Sir  George  wisely  sent  them  supplies, 
and  was  soon  able  to  dictate  terms  of  peace  to  the 
haughty  warrior  chief,  without  firing  a  shot.  In 
that  treaty  he  got  from  Krielie  all  that  fine  country, 
lying  between  the  "  great  Kei  river,"  and  the  river 
"  Gnabakka,"  which  has  since  been  given  to  the 
Fingoes,  as  a  reward  for  their  unwavering  loyalty 
since  their  deliverance  and  adoption  by  the  govern- 
ment in  1835.  It  is  now  known  as  Fingo-larid. 
Butterworth  is  near  the  eastern  boundary  of  it,andbut 
fifteen  miles  from  Krielie's  te  great  place."  The  old 
chief,  I  was  told,  pleaded  hard  to  be  allowed  to  retain 
his  mission-station,  but  it  was  thought,  as  his  motives 
in  respect  to  the  station  were  purely  selfish,  and  as 
it  might  more  readily  lead  to  complications  with 
the  Government,  it  was  best  for  the  colony,  and  for 
the  mission,  to  keep  it  out  of  Krielie's  hands  alto- 
gether. Krielie's  people  do  not  now  exceed  thirty 
thousand.  They  have  no  missionary,  and  the  old 
chief,  owing  to  a  petty  difficulty  which  he  last  year 
fomented,  at  the  Butterworth  Station,  about  a  pig, 
was  forbidden  by  Captain  Cobb  to  set  his  foot  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Gnabakka. 

The  Butterwov  v,h  Mission  has  been  established  the 


PREACHING  *'by  a  rtver-side."  279 

fourth  time,  and  now  promises  to  be  more  flourishing 
than  ever  before,  under  Rev.  John  Longden,  who 
commenced  operations  there  about  four  years  ago. 

"We  were  comfortably  quartered  in  the  mission- 
house,  and  Brother  and  Sister  Longden,  with  good 
fare  and  good  cheer,  rendered  our  sojourn  with  them 
very  pleasant.  On  Sabbath  morning,  the  22nd  of 
July,  I  walked  round  about  their  little  Zion  to  find 
the  most  suitable  place  for  open-air  preaching,  as  we 
anticipated  that  the  chapel  accommodation  for  about 
four  hundred  would  be  inadequate.  We  selected  a 
beautiful  spot,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  on  the 
bank  of  the  river,  richly  carpeted  with  grass. 

At  ten  a.m.,  Charles  and  I  stand  before  a  motley 
crowd  of  about  five  hundred  natives  and  a  dozen 
whites.  To  our  left  is  the  river,  in  the  rear  a 
little  cliff  or  point  of  rocks,  jutting  down  to  the 
water's  edge  ;  to  our  right  a  high  rocky  hill,  at  our 
feet  the  tongue  or  wedge-point  of  a  valley,  which 
rapidly  widens,  and  opens  the  prospect  to  the  mis- 
sion-buildings on  a  high  hill  beyond;  just  in  the 
rear  of  us  are  our  European  friends,  who  had  come 
over  forty  miles  for  this  occasion,  and  the  mission- 
family  ;  just  in  front  are  the  native  women  and  chil- 
dren, next  to  them,  in  a  circling  mass,  the  native 
men  ;  to  our  right  and  front,  perched  on  the  side  of 
the  hill,  are  about  one  hundred  wild  heathens,  painted 
with  red  ochre,  and  greased  till  they  glisten  in  the 
sunlight.  Their  clothing  consists  simply  of  a  blan- 
ket painted   red  with   the  same  native  dye  which 


280  BTJTTERWORTH. 

covers  their  bodies.  I  great!}''  feel  the  embarrassment 
of  the  situation.  I  must  preach  to  these  believers 
to  adjust  them  to  the  Holy  Spirit's  methods,  so  as 
to  "  work  together  with  God  "  effectively  in  the  sal- 
vation of  sinners,  and  yet  I  must  arrest  the  attention 
of  the  heathen  and  interest  them  in  our  work,  or 
they  will  go  away  and  we  shall  not  get  another  shot  at 
them,  and  there  is  scarcely  time  in  one  service  to 
secure  well  these  two  ends,  but  we  go  on  and  com- 
bine the  two  objects  as  well  as  we  can.  All  quiet 
and  attentive,  and  a  great  interest  manifestly 
awakened  among  the  mission  people. 

"  Now  we  invite  all  who  fully  understand  the  sub- 
ject, who  feel  the  burden  of  their  sins,  and  have 
made  up  their  minds  to  give  themselves  to  God,  and 
receive  Jesus  as  their  Saviour,  to  stand  up.  Let  each 
one  think  well  and  act  for  him  or  herself.  Let  no 
one  stand  simply  because  another  docs.  Let  no  one 
be  afraid  to  stand  up  because  of  the  presence  of 
another.  As  we  shall  answer  to  God  for  ourselves, 
so  let  us  say,  '  Let  others  do  as  they  will,  but  as  for 
me,  I  will  serve  God.'  "  In  about  a  minute  we  see 
about  one  hundred  on  their  feet,  including  half  a 
dozen  whites.  We  now  invite  them  to  kneel,  sur- 
render to  God,  and  receive  Jesus  Christ,  whom  lie 
hath  sent  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.  An  earnest 
struggle  ensues,  and  a  few  enter  into  liberty,  and 
witness  to  the  fact  in  the  story  of  their  salvation  to 
the  missionary,  who  examines  each  one  personally. 
After  a  service  of  three  hours  we  dismiss  them,  and 


LEARNING    WISDOM    FROM    A.   ZULU.  281 

invite  them  to  meet  us  there  again  at  three  p.m. 
"  Charles/'  say  I  by  the  way,  "  the  campaign  of 
last  week  at  Kamastone,  Lesseyton,  Queen's  Town, 
and  Warners,  has  nearly  used  us  up.  We  are  not 
up  to  our  mark  to-day.  I  don't  feel  the  Spirit's 
unction  as  I  usually  do  in  going  into  the  battle." 
"No,"  replies  Charles,  "your  Father  sees  that  your 
body  can't  bear  it.  He  means  to  give  you  an  oppor- 
tunity to  get  back  your  usual  strength  of  body.  He 
does  not  want  to  work  you  to  death." 

I  said  in  my  heart,  "  Good  for  my  Zulu,  many  a 
European  or  American  enthusiast  might  learn  lessons 
of  wisdom  from  you." 

At  three  p.m.  we  had  about  the  same  audience  as 
in  the  morning.  The  preaching  goes  home  to  their 
hearts  with  increasing  power.  Many  of  the  people 
are  immigrant  Fingoes,  from  Cape  Colony,  where  they 
have  been  accustomed  to  hear  the  Gospel  for  years, 
and  the  station  people  have  long  been  under  the 
instruction  of  Brother  Longden.  These  heathen 
know  nothing  about  it,  or,  what  is  worse,  they  have 
heard  more  against  the  Gospel  by  the  carnal  oppo- 
sition its  glimmer  of  light  upon  their  minds  has 
provoked  than  they  have  learned  of  its  power. 
After  the  sermon  we  call  for  seekers,  and  over  a 
hundred  go  down  on  their  knees,  and  an  earnest 
struggle  against  the  powers  of  darkness  ensues. 
The  heathen  look  very  serious,  but  the  most  of  them 
refuse  to  yield,  a  few  of  them  are  down  among  the 
seekers.     A  much  larger  number  are  saved  at  this 


282  KUTTERWORTH. 

service  than  at  the  first.  Among  the  converts  who 
report  themselves,  we  see  two  old  heathen  men. 
"  Charles,  what  has  that  old  red  blanket  to  say  for 
himself?" 

"  He  says  he  has  been  a  very  great  sinner,  but 
that  he  has  found  Jesus,  and  Jesus  has  saved  him." 

"  What  has  that  other  heathen  to  say  about  it  ?  " 

"  '  I  have  been  the  greatest  scoundrel  in  the  world, 
but  the  umfundisi  says  that  Jesus  came  to  save  the 
very  worst  sinners,  and  I  have  taken  Him,  and  He 
has  pardoned  my  sins,  and  I  feel  Him  now  in  my 
heart.' " 

Many  of  our  hearers  had  come  twenty  miles  to 
attend  our  services.  They  are  not  a  people  to  carry 
food  with  them  on  so  short  a  journey.  They  had 
now  been  with  us  all  day,  and  were  hungry,  so  we 
began  to  inquire  if  there  were  any  "  loaves  and  fishes  " 
that  we  could  set  before  them  ?  After  consultation, 
we  announced  to  the  congregation  that  all  who  had 
come  from  a  distance,  and  were  hungry,  then,  or  at 
any  time  during  our  series  of  services,  should  go  to 
the  missionary,  who  would  give  each  one  a  quart  of 
"  mealies,"  Indian  corn,  daily.  Brother  Roberts  and 
I  proposed  to  bear  two-thirds  of  the  expense  amount- 
ing to  a  few  pounds  each,  for  the  mealies  thus  con- 
sumed ;  but  at  the  close,  when  we  came  to  settle, 
Brother  Longden  would  not  allow  us  the  privilege 
of  helping  him. 

My  labours  with  the  heathen  that  day  caused  me 
to  feel  keenly  my  inability  to  penetrate  their  hea- 


LEARNING   TO   MASTER   THE    KAFFIR    MIND.      283 

thenish  darkness,  and  grapple  successfully  with  their 
prejudices  and  superstitions,  from  my  want  of  an 
acquaintance  with  Kaffir  life  and  customs,  so  I  de- 
termined, by  the  help  of  the  Lord,  with  the  best 
sources  available,  though  I  should  not  have  time 
during  my  brief  sojourn  to  master  the  Kaffir  lan- 
guage, I  would  master  the  Kaffir  mind.  I  at  once 
enlisted  Charles  in  the  work  of  studying  native 
Kaffirism.  At  suitable  times  he  got  the  oldest  men 
together  and  questioned  them  about  the  customs  and 
faith  of  their  heathen  fathers,  and  wrote  down  their 
statements  ;  by  this  means,  and  by  what  we  could 
learn  from  the  missionaries  and  from  Kaffir  Laws, 
and  Customs,  a  book,  compiled  from  the  experience 
and  testimony  of  several  of  the  oldest  missionaries, 
specially  for  the  benefit  of  the  government,  we  made 
progress  in  the  acquisition  of  useful  knowledge, 
which  could  not  be  obtained  in  any  college  in 
Europe,  and  knowledge  that  we  both  turned  to  good 
account  by  the  help  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

We  had  preaching  that  night  in  the  chapel,  and 
a  glorious  harvest  of  souls.  On  Monday,  Tues- 
day, and  Wednesday,  we  preached  in  the  forenoon 
by  the  river,  and  at  night  in  the  chapel.  On  1  hurs- 
day  and  Thursday  night  there  was  a  great  marriage 
feast  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  had  been  post- 
poned several  days  on  account  of  our  meetings,  so 
we  took  that  day  and  night  as  a  season  of  greatly 
needed  rest.  We  resumed  again  on  Friday,  and 
closed  our  special  series  Friday  night,  and  Saturday, 


284  BUTTERWORTH. 

the  28th,  travelled  nearly  fifty  miles  to  Clarkeburv 
Mission  Station.  During  our  series  at  Butterworth, 
the  missionary  examined  and  recorded  the  names  of 
one  hundred  and  forty-seven  converts. 

While  at  Butterworth  a  fact  transpired  illustrating 
the  magisterial  authority  of  the  missionary,  and 
also  the  apparent  necessity  for  such  authority.  A 
man  on  the  station  had  a  daughter,  who  had 
been  in  the  mission-school,  for  years.  It  ap- 
peared that  the  father  had  a  tempting  offer  of 
cattle  for  his  daughter  by  some  heathen  man  a  few 
miles  distant,  who  wanted  to  buy  her,  according  to 
heathen  Kaffir  custom,  for  his  wife  and  slave, 
wrhether  first  or  fifth  wife,  we  did  not  learn.  The 
father  knowing  that  the  laws  of  the  mission-station 
did  not  allow  him  to  sell  his  daughter,  nor  give  her 
in  marriage,  to  a  polygamist  heathen,  gave  consent 
to  the  parties  that  his  daughter  might  go  to  them  to 
plough,  and  assist  in  putting  in  the  crop  of  mealies, 
and  several  red  fellows  came  accordingly  for  the 
girl.  Brother  Longden,  however,  having  learned 
that  such  a  negotiation  was  pending,  promptly  met 
the  men,  and  told  them  to  go  away  and  attend  to 
their  own  business,  for  he  would  not,  on  any  account, 
let  them  have  the  girl.  The  fellows  were  greatly 
disappointed,  and  hung  round  some  time  before  they 
would  leave.  Brother  Longden  told  the  father  that 
if  he  meant  to  sell  his  daughter  to  the  heathen,  he 
must  at  ODce  leave  the  station,  for  he  would  not 
allow  such  a  man  to  live  on  the  premises. 


THE   GREAT   SNAKE-KILLER.  285 

We  shook  hands  with  a  distinguished  old  heathen 
at  Butterworth.  His  fame  was  based  on  two  adven- 
tures of  his  life.  One  was,  according  to  the  account 
in  Kaffraria,  that  on  one  occasion  when  Rev.  Wm. 
Shaw  was  trying  to  cross  a  swollen  river,  the  current 
was  too  strong,  and  carried  him  down  the  stream, 
greatly  imperiling  his  life.  This  heathen  man 
plunged  in,  and  assisted  the  "  umfundisi"  in  getting 
safely  to  land.  The  other  was,  that  in  his  early  life 
he  killed  a  "  boa  constrictor."  That  will  give  un- 
dying fame  to  any  heathen  Kaffir,  as  one  of  the 
greatest  men  in  the  nation,  indeed,  so  great  that  his 
skull  is,  above  all  others,  selectedas  the  medicine-pot 
of  the  great  chief.  If  such  a  distinguished  individual, 
however,  is  allowed  to  die  a  natural  death,  the  charm 
is  lost,  and  his  skull  unfitted  for  such  distinguished 
royal  purposes.  But  the  great  snake  killer,  on  the 
other  hand,  must  not  be  surprised  and  murdered. 
He  must  yield  himself  a  willing  sacrifice,  and  abide 
in  quietness  for  ten  preparatory  days,  and  then  be 
murdered  decently,  according  to  royal  decree. 
Many,  I  was  told,  had  thus  given  themselves  up  to 
die,  and  be  canonized  among  the  most  honourable 
"  Inrishologu."  This  old  fellow,  however,  was  not  as 
yet  sufficiently  patriotic,  nor  ambitious  of  glory  for 
that,  but  chose  rather  to  retain  his  skull  for  his  own 
personal  use,  and  let  old  Krielie,  his  master,  get  on 
in  his  medical  arrangements  as  best  he  could,  and 
hence  takes  ^good  care  to  keep  himself  beyond 
Krielie's  dominions. 


286  BUTTEltWORTH. 

We  were  introduced  to  a  much  more  remarkable 
character,  at  Butterworth,  than  the  killer  of  the 
"  boa  constrictor." 

Brother  Longden  gave  us  in  substance  the  follow- 
ing history  of  "  Umaduna."  He  said  that  some 
months  before  in  visiting  some  heathen  "  kraals/'  he 
inquired  at  each  one  if  there  were  any  Christians 
among  them.  Coming  to  a  kraal  containing  about 
three  hundred  souls,  he  put  his  question  to  many  in 
different  parts  of  the  kraal,  and  received  from  all 
the  reply,  "  Yes,  there  is  one  Christian  in  this 
kraal.  He's  a  little  one,  but  he  is  a  wonderful 
man.  He  has  been  persecuted,  many  times  beaten, 
and  threatened  with  death,  if  he  did  not  quit  pray- 
ing to  Christ;  but  he  prays  and  sings  all  the 
more." 

Mr.  Longden  was  greatly  surprised,  and  pleased 
to  learn  that  such  a  martyr  spirit  was  shining  so 
brightly  in  a  region  so  dark,  and  sought  diligently 
till  he  found  the  wonderful  man  of  whom  he  had 
heard  such  things,  and  to  his  astonishment,  the  great 
man  turned  out  to  be  a  naked  boy,  about  twelve 
years  old.  Upon  an  acquaintance  with  him,  and 
the  further  testimony  of  his  heathen  neighbours,  he 
found  that  all  he  had  heard  about  him,  and  much 
more,  was  true.  Hearing  these  things,  we  sought 
an  interview  with  "  Umaduna/-'  for  that  is  his  name. 
He  had  attended  our  meetings  from  the  first,  and  I 
had  often  seen  him  among  the  naked  J£aflir  children 
in  my  audiences  but  did  not  know  that  I  was  preach- 


A  MARTYR  SPIRIT  UNDER  A   SHEEP- SKIN.      287 

ing  to  such  a  heroic  soldier  of  Jesus,  till  the  last  day 
of  our  series.  That  day  we  sent  for  the  lad  to  come 
into  the  mission-house,  that  we  might  see  and 
learn  of  him  how  to  suffer  for  Christ.  He  hesi- 
tated, but  after  some  persuasion  consented,  and 
came.  He  was  small  for  a  boy  of  twelve  years,  and 
had  no  clothing,  except  an  old  sheep- skin  over  his 
shoulders.  Quite  black,  a  serious,  but  pleasant  face  ; 
very  unassuming,  not  disposed  to  talk,  but  he  gave, 
in  modest,  but  firm  tones  of  voice,  prompt,  intelligent 
answers  to  all  our  questions.  The  following  is  tha 
substance  of  what  we  elicited  from  him,  simply  cor- 
roborating the  facts  narrated  before  by  tht  mis- 
sionary :— 

I  said  to  him,  through  my  interpreter, 

"TTmaduna,  how  long  have  you  been  acquainted 
with  Jesus  ?" 

"  About  three  years." 

"  How  did  you  learn  about  Him,  and  know  how  to 
come  to  Him?" 

"  I  went  to  preaching  at  Heald  Town,  and  learned 
about  Jesus,  and  that  he  wanted  the  little  children 
to  come  to  Him.  Then  I  took  Jesus  for  my  Saviour, 
and  got  all  my  sins  forgiven,  and  my  heart  filled 
with  the  love  of  God." 

He  was  not  long  at  Heald  Town,  but  returned  to 
his  people,  and  had  since  emigrated  with  them  to 
Fingo-land. 

"  Was  your  father  willing  that  you  should  bo  a 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ  f" 


288  BUTTER  WORTH. 

"  Nay,  he  told  me  that  I  should  not  pray  to  God 
any  more,  and  that  I  must  give  Jesus  up,  or  he 
would  beat  me." 

"  What  did  you  say  to  your  father  about  it  ?  " 

"  I  didn't  say  much,  I  wouldn't  give  up  Jesus.  I 
kept  praying  to  God  more  and  more." 

"  What  did  your  father  do  then?" 

"  He  beat  me  a  great  many  times." 

"  Well,  when  he  found  he  could  not  beat  Jesus 
out  of  you,  what  did  he  do  next  ?  " 

"He  got  a  great  many  boys  to  come  and  dance 
round  me,  and  laugh  at  me,  and  try  to  get  me  to 
dance." 

"  And  wouldn't  you  dance  ?  " 

"  No,  I  just  sat  down,  and  would  not  say  anything." 

' '  What  did  your  father  do  then  ?  " 

"  He  fastened  me  up  in  the  hut,  and  said  I  must 
give  up  Jesus  or  he  would  kill  me.  lie  left  me  in 
the  hut  all  day." 

"  And  what  did  you  do  in  there  ?  " 

"  I  kept  praying,  and  sticking  to  Jesus." 

"  Did  you  think  your  father  would  kill  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  if  God  would  let  him.  He  fastened  me  in 
the  hut  many  times,  and  said  he  would  kill  me." 

"  Umaduna,  are  you  sure  you  would  be  willing  to 
die  for  Jesus  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  if  He  wants  me  to." 

"  Are  you  not  afraid  to  die  ?  " 

"  No,  I  would  be  glad  to  die  for  Jesus,  if  He  wants 
me  to." 


A  missionary's  account  of  the  work.       289 

Brother  Roberts  gave  liim  a  copy  of  the  New 
Testament  in  Kaffir,  for  his  use  after  he  shall  have 
learned  to  read,  and  said  he  had  intended  to  speak 
some  words  of  encouragement  to  the  boy,  but  on 
hearing  him  talk,  he  found  the  rustic  little  Christian 
so  far  in  advance  of  himself,  who  had  been  but  a  few 
mouths  in  the  way,  that  he  could  not  say  anything 
to  him. 

The  subsequent  progress  of  the  work  in  Butter- 
worth  is  indicated  by  an  extract  from  a  letter  from 
the  missionary,  dated  August  2nd. 

I  start  this  letter  on  your  track,  as  I  know  it  will 
interest  you  to  hear  that  the  revival  of  God's  work,  so 
delightfully  begun  on  the  occasion  of  your  recent  visit  to 
Butterworth,  is  still  going  on.  The  evening  of  the  day  you 
left  we  had  nearly  twenty  penitents  ;  about  the  same  num- 
ber at  mid-day  prayer-meeting  on  Sunday,  and  twenty  at 
the  prayer-meeting  following  the  afternoon  preaching.  We 
have  had  the  same  number,  or  more,  at  every  public  service 
since.  Conversions  have  taken  place,  more  or  less,  at  every 
service. 

The  larger  children  of  our  schools,  who  remained  appa- 
rently indifferent  for  awhile,  have  at  last  begun  to  seek  the 
Lord,  and  literally  roar  in  the  disquietude  of  their  souls. 
Those  backsliders  of  whom  I  spoke  to  you,  who  seemed 
determined  not  to  yield,  have  at  last  given  way;  and  last 
night  made  the  chapel  ring  with  the  backsliders'  cry  for 
mercy. 

Six  or  eight  fresh  ones  set  out  from  the  City  of  Destruc- 
tion last  evening,  and  so  on,  we  trust,  the  good  work  will 
spread,  until 

All  shall  catch  the  flame, 
All  partake  the  glorious  bliss; 

U 


290  BUTTERWORTII. — IGEUWA 

Most  of  the  new  members  have  been  got  into  classes, 
both  here,  and  in  what  I  may  call  the  country  societies. 

On  looking  over  my  list,  I  find  that  a  large  number  of 
our  members  have  been  converted,  or  re-converted,  and  tbe 
whole  society  lias  been  much  stirred  up.  We  rejoiced 
greatly  on  hearing  of  your  success  at  Clarkebury,  and 
thought  it  would  be  so. 

On  Saturday  the  28th  of  July  we  travelled  nearly 
fifty  miles  from  Butter  worth  to  Clarkebury,  our  next 
field  of  labour. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

CLAItKEBURY  (uMGWALl). 

"  The  fifth  mission-station  established  by  our  society 
in  Kaffraria,"  says  the  old  pioneer,  Rev.  W.  Shaw, 
"  was  in  the  country  of  the  Abatembu,  under  the 
great  chief  Vossanie. 

"  My  first  visit  to  this  chief  was  during  the 
journey  of  observation,  which  I  performed  in 
April,  182  5. 

"  We  reached  the  chief's  kraal  on  the  9th  of  that 
month,  and  on  the  next  day  we  had  an  interview 
with  him,  when,  after  we  had  submitted  to  the  usual 
cross-examination,  and  afforded  a  full  explanation  of 
the  objects  contemplated  in  the  establishment  of  a 
mission,  Yossanie,  in  the  presence  of  his  counsellors 
and  chieftains,  promised  that  if  a  missionary  came 
to  them,  they  would  receive  him  kindly,  and  give 
him  land  on  which  he  might  form  a  station.  It  was 
not  till  April,  1830,  that  we  were  enabled  to  com- 
mence this  mission. 

"  The  chief  faithfully  kept  his  word,  and  received 
Rev.  Mr.  Haddy,"  our  first  missionary  there,  "  with 
evident  satisfaction,  giving  him  leave  to  search  the 


292  CLARKEBURY. — UMGWAL1. 

country  to  find  a  suitable  site  for  the  proposed 
station.'''  This  mission-station  was  called  Clarkebury, 
in  honour  of  Dr.  Adam  Clarke. 

The  only  Europeans  killed  by  natives  in  connec- 
tion with  our  Kaffrarian  missions  lost  their  lives  in 
connection  with  this  station.  The  first  was  Mr. 
Rawlins,  an  assistant,  who  was  killed  by  a  horde  of 
marauders,  not  far  from  the  station.  The  other  was 
the  Rev.  J.  S.  Thomas,  a  thorough  Kaffir  scholar, 
an  energetic  brave  missionary.  In  1856,  he  had 
just  removed  from  Clarkebury  to  a  more  suitable 
place,  where  he  designed  to  establish  the  head- 
quarters of  that  mission.  Their  cattle  kraal  wag 
attacked  at  night  by  a  band  of  marauders,  which 
brought  on  a  general  conflict  between  them  and  the 
mission  people.  The  missionary  sprang  out  of  his 
bed,  and  rushing  into  the  midst  of  the  fight  to  try 
to  command  order,  was  pierced  with  an  "  assagay," 
from  the  hands  of  one  of  the  attacking  party.  On 
the  death  of  this  noble  missionary,  the  removal  of 
the  mission  site  was  abandoned.  It  should  be  said 
to  the  credit  of  the  Abatembu  nation,  that  they,  as  a 
people,  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  assassination  of 
those  good  men,  but  deeply  regretted  their  fall, 
which  was  by  the  murderous  hands  of  a  band  of 
robbers.  The  missionaries,  however,  have  suffered 
endless  petty  annoyances  from  the  heathen  chiefs 
and  people.  The  following  story  told  me  by  Rev. 
W.  J.  Davis  may  serve  as  an  illustration  of  this  : 

"When  I  was  stationed  at  Clarkebury,  in  1832, 


"DAVIS,  WE  HAVE  COME  FOU  THAT  TOT."    293 

the  Tanibookie*  Chief,  '  Vadana/  coveted  a  pot  we 
daily  used  in  our  cooking.  He  came  and  begged  me 
every  day  for  that  pot  for  a  long  time.  I  gave  him 
many  presents,  but  could  not  spare  the  pot,  and 
positively  refused  to  give  it  up. 

"  Finally,  the  chief  said,  '  Davis,  I'll  have  that 
pot ! '  The  next  day  Yadana  came  with  thirty  of 
his  warriors,  all  armed  with  assagays — a  kind  of  jave- 
lin, their  principal  war  weapon. 

"  They  stood  in  defiant  array  before  me,  and  the 
chief  said,  '  Davis,  we  have  come  for  that  pot/ 

'"We  need  the  pot/  I  replied,  '  for  cooking  our 
food,  and  as  I  told  you  before,  I  won't  give  it  to  you.' 

" '  You  must  give  it  to  us,  or  we'll  take  it/ 

"  '  With  thirty  armed  warriors,  against  one  un- 
armed missionary,  you  have  the  power  to  take  it,  but 
if  that  is  the  way  you  are  going  to  treat  your  mis- 
sionary, just  give  me  a  safe  passage  out  of  your 
country,  and  I'll  leave  you.' 

"  '  Davis,  are  you  not  afraid  of  us  ? '  'demanded  the 
chief,  sharply. 

"  '  No,  I'm  not  afraid  of  you.  I  know  you  can  kill 
me,  but  if  I  had  been  afraid  to  die  I  never  would 
have  come  among  such  a  set  of  savages  as  you 
are/ 

"  '  Davis/  repeated  the  chief  sternly,  *  are  you  not 
afraid  to  die  ? ' 

"  '  No  !     If  you  kill  me  I  have  a  home  in  heaven, 

*  Rev.  Wm.  Shaw  calls  this  tribe  Amatembu,  or  Tcmbookies 
but  they  are  now  generally  called  "  Tambookies." 


294  CLARKEBURY. — UMGWALI. 

where  the  wicked   cease   from  troubling,   and   the 
weary  are  at  rest.' 

"  Then,  turning  to  his  men,  the  chief  said,  '  "Well, 
this  is  a  strange  thing.  Here's  a  man  who  is  not 
afraid  to  die,  and  we  will  have  to  let  him  keep  his 
pot.' 

"  When  the  chief  was  turning  to  go  away,  he  said, 
*  Davis,  I  love  you  less  now  than  I  did  before,  but 
I  fear  you  more.'" 

The  chief  never  gave  his  missionary  any  further 
trouble  about  his  pot,  but  showed  greater  respect  to 
him  than  ever  before. 

On  our  journey  from  Butterworth  to  Clarkebury, 
one  of  our  cart-horses  got  sick,  and  was  scarcely  able 
to  travel,  causing  us  much  delay,  so  that  we  did  not 
arrive  at  Clarkebury  till  nine  o'clock  at  night,  and 
having  no  moon  we  had  to  travel  a  couple  of  hours 
more  by  faith  than  by  sight. 

Rev.  Edwin  Gedye  met  us  a  little  way  from  the 
station,  and'  piloted  us  through  the  dark  to  the 
mission-house,  where  we  were  welcomed  and  kindly 
entertained  by  the  missionary  Rev.  Peter  Hargraves, 
and  his  truly  missionary  wife,  who  is  a  native  of 
Kaffraria,  daughter  of  a  pioneer  missionary,  Rev. 
W.  J.  Davis.  Rev.  Brother  Gedye  was  the  mission- 
ary from  Shawbury  mission  station,  but  had  with 
his  family  recently  fled  to  Clarkebury  on  account  of 
fearfully  complicated  war-troubles  at  Shawbury. 

They  have  capacious  and  comfortable  mission  build- 
ings, and  a  beautiful  garden  containing  fine  oranges, 


THE    GREAT   CHIEF   NGANGELTZWE.  295 

and  other  varieties  of  fruit-trees,  at  Clarkebury,  and 
a  chapel  to  seat  about  five  hundred  persons. 

My  purpose  was  to  remain  there  only  till  "Wednes- 
day morning,  but  Brother  Hargraves  said,  that  he 
had  sent  a  messenger  to  Ngangelizwe,  the  great 
chief  of  the  Tambookie  nation,  inviting  him  and  his 
counsellors  to  attend  our  services,  and  that  the 
chief  had  returned  answer  that  they  could  not 
be  with  us  at  the  commencement,  but  would  come 
on  Wednesday.  So  we  consented  to  stay  at  any-rate 
till  after  Wednesday.  On  Sabbath  morning,  the  29th 
of  July,  we  had  the  chapel  crowded,  Brother  Har- 
graves read  Mr.  Wesley's  abridgment  of  the  Episcopal 
service,  and  his  Kaffir  audience  repeated  their  parts 
of  the  service  very  distinctly. 

We  preached  to  the  believers  in  the  morning, 
and,  without  a  prayer-meeting,  requested  them  to 
retire,  and  spend  as  much  time  as  possible  in  self- 
examination  and  prayer,  and  come  together  again  at 
three  p.m.  A  prayer-meeting  followed  the  afternoon 
preaching,  and  also  the  preaching  in  the  evening, 
and  on  each  occasion,  beside  a  gracious  work  amongst 
believers,  we  had  probably  one  hundred  and  fifty 
penitents. 

On  Monday  we  had  preaching  and  prayer-meeting 
both  mid- day  and  evening.  The  same  on  Tuesday, 
and  many  souls  were  saved  at  each  service.  Among 
the  converts  were  seven  Europeans — Mr.  Crouch,  an 
old  colonist  who  had  come  into  Kaffraria  with  my 
friend   Mr.  Joseph   Walker,   a   merchant   of  King 


296  CLARKEBURY. TJMGWALI. 

William's  Town,  on  commercial  business,  Mr.  Henry 
B.  "Warner,  liis  wife,  and  four  others.  Henry  B. 
is  the  son  of  the  British  resident  for  Kaffraria, 
J.  C.  Warner,  Esq.  Clarkebury  was  the  place  of 
Henry's  birth,  while  his  father  was  stationed  there 
as  a  missionary,  and  having  been  brought  up  in  the 
Kaffir  mission-field,  he  is  as  perfectly  familiar  with 
the  Kaffir  language  as  a  native  Kaffir.  He  holds  the 
office  of  magistrate  in  Fingo-land,  and  is  the  acting 
chief  of  a  thousand  natives.  Now  at  the  place  of 
his  birth  he  was  "  born  again,"  and  at  once  entered 
actively  into  the  work,  labouring  personally,  and  ex- 
horting publicly  in  the  Kaffir  language.  He  has 
gone  rapidly  forward  in  a  career  of  increasing  use- 
fulness ever  since,  and  is  now  preaching  the  Gospel. 
In  a  letter  from  Rev.  E.  J.  Barrett,  dated  October 
16th,  he  says,  "  Mr.  H.  B.  Warner,  a  week  or  two 
ago,  preached  at  Woodhouse  Forest,  and  the  Lord 
was  working  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  If  any 
one  can  move  the  Kaffir  mind,  I  think  he  will." 

Brother  Hargraves,  getting  a  hint  that  the  great 
chief  did  not  wish  to  come  to  our  meetings  at  all, 
felt  very  anxious  about  it,  and  sent  a  messenger  invit- 
ing him  again,  and  proposing  that  if  he  preferred  it, 
we  would  go  to  his  "  Great  Place  "  and  preach  there. 
That  led  to  a  great  council  of  the  chief  and  his  ama- 
pakati,  who  debated  the  question  two  days,  and  finally 
returned  answer  that  the  chief  and  his  counsellors 
would  go  to  Clarkebury  on  Thursday.     The  chief's 


POLITICAL    LEAGUE    AGAINST    CHRIST.  297 

position  is  peculiarly  unfavourable  to  the  success  of 
the  Gospel  with  him,  or  any  of  his  councillors  and 
chiefs.  He  had  been  to  school  a  year  and  a-half  at 
the  mission- station,  under  Brother  Hargraves,  and 
became  greatly  concerned  about  his  soul,  and  was 
"  almost  persuaded  to  be  a  Christian  ;"  but  when  the 
time  came  for  him  to  take  the  supreme  chieftainship 
of  his  nation,  the  counsellors  and  chiefs,  who  had 
exhibited  great  jealousy  and  fear  all  the  time  he  lived 
at  the  station  lest  the  3Toung  chief  should  embrace 
Christ,  demanded  his  formal  renunciation  of  Chris- 
tianity, or  they  would  repudiate  him,  and  support  his 
younger  brother.  If  he  had  been  a  Christian,  he 
would  have  stated,  and  maintained  his  position  on  tho 
Lord's  side,  and  accepted  the  ultimate  decisions  of 
Providence,  but  he  was  not  fully  decided  for  God.  He 
hesitated  some  time  before  he  gave  his  final  answer. 
I  was  told  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Warner,  and  by  the  mis- 
sionary, that  the  young  chief  went  alone  and  wept, 
and  it  was  hoped  he  would  apply  to  God  and  get 
strength  to  stand  up  for  Christ  at  all  hazards  ;  but, 
in  a  fit  of  weeping  disappointment,  he  angrily 
clenched  his  fists,  and  said,  "  They  are  determined  to 
have  a  heathen  chief  to  rule  over  them,  and  I'll  let 
them  feel  the  power  of  a  heathen  chief."  It  is 
believed  that  he  will,  if  he  lives  long,  take  vengeance 
on  the  leading  conspirators  against  Christ,  who 
forced  such  terms  upon  him.  He  threw  an  assagay 
through  the  arm  of  one  of  them  just  before  our  visit. 


298  CLAKKEBURY. — TJMGWALI. 

Another  case  had  just  occurred  still  more  peculiar 
and  remarkable,  illustrating  the  spirit  of  this 
chief : 

Some  of  his  leading  counsellors  brought  a  man 
who  owned  a  vast  herd  of  cattle  before  the  chief, 
under  a  charge  of  trying  to  take  the  chief's  life  by 
witchcraft.  The  man  had  been  duly  "  smelled  out," 
and  convicted  by  the  priest  or  doctor.  According  to 
all  precedent  of  Kaffir  law  and  usage,  the  accused 
would  have  been  tortured  and  killed,  and  all  his 
cattle  confiscated  and  driven  into  the  chiei  's  kraal. 
But  in  the  face  of  hoary-headed  usage,  and  the 
superstitious  fear  and  cupidity  which  are  so  potent 
in  such  cases,  Ngangelizwe  turned  to  the  accused, 
who  stood  in  expectation  of  a  horrible  death,  and 
said  to  him,  "  Go  home,  and  sit  down  in  peace,  and 
take  all  your  cattle,  I  don't  want  them."  Then 
turning  to  his  counsellor-plaintiffs  in  the  case,  he 
said,  sharply,  "  Go  home,  and  attend  to  your  own 
business." 

There  is,  therefore,  a  possibility  that  the  coun- 
sellors and  chiefs  may  be  so  filled  witl  their  ways, 
"  sowing  to  the  wind,  and  reaping  the  whirlwind," 
that  the  sad  results  of  their  wickedness  may  operate 
as  a  warning,  and  be  employed  by  an  overruling 
Providence  to  lead  the  nation  nearer  to  God  ;  but  be 
that  as  it  may,  the  present  attitude  of  the  chief,  and 
the  counsellors  and  chiefs  who  are  engaged  with  him 
in  this  combination,  is  a  serious  bar  to  the  progress  of 
the  Gospel  among  them,  for  every  party  requiring 


WAITING   FOR   THE    GREAT  CHIEFS.  299 

the  chief  to  renounce  Christ,  he  thus  committed  him- 
self in  a  political  compact  against  Christ.  We  had 
ample  proofs  of  that  fact,  as  my  narrative  will  show. 

On  Thursday  morning,  the  day  appointed  for  the 
chief  to  come  with  his  counsellors  to  our  services,  a 
messenger  arrived,  according  to  Kaffir  custom,  to 
announce  the  important  fact  that,  "  JNgangelizwe  is 
in  the  path." 

He  had  but  fifteen  miles  to  travel  from  the  "  Great 
Place"  to  Clarkebury,  and  we  thought  he  might 
arrive  by  mid-day,  but  the  three  missionaries,  Revs. 
Ilargraves,  Gedye,  and  Eaynor,  from  Morley, 
thought,  according  to  the  ordinary  ceremony  and 
delay  by  the  way,  they  might  require  the  whole  day 
for  the  journey. 

About  three  p.  m.  his  vanguard  appeared  on  the 
high  hill,  half-a-mile  east  of  the  station,  and  took 
their  stand.  Half-an-hour  later,  another  party  came 
in  sight  and  halted  in  like  manner.  It  was  then 
nearly  an  hour  more  before  the  great  chief,  with  the 
main  body  of  the  royal  cortege,  appeared.  The 
cavalry  of  the  train,  consisting  of  about  forty  coun- 
sellors, fell  into  line,  single  file,  the  chief  being  about 
the  middle  ;  and  all  came  down  the  hill  at  a  full 
gallop.  Arriving,  they  at  once  dismounted,  but  all 
remained  outside  the  mission-yard  with  the  horses, 
except  the  chief  and  his  brother  Usiqukati,  who  came 
directly  in.  Brother  Ilargraves  met,  and  shook 
hands  with  them  at  the  gate,  and  introduced  them 
to  me  and  my  party.     All  the  ceremony  required  on 


300  CLARKEBURY. UMGWALI. 

our  part,  I  learned,  was  simply  to  pronounce  the 
name  of  the  chief,  and  shake  hands,  and  so  with  his 
brother.  Having  previously  trained  our  tongues 
to  a  little  familiarity  with  their  names,  we  had  no 
difficulty  in  meeting  the  requirements  of  the  occasion. 
A  sufficient  number  of  huts  had  been  vacated  for 
the  accommodation  of  the  chief  and  his  party,  as  long 
as  they  might  desire  to  stay. 

The  chief's  minor  name  was  "  Qeya,"  but  accordin 
to  custom,  graduating  to  manhood  and  to  his  chieftain- 
ship,  he  got  a  new  characteristic  name,  and  being 
fonsidered,  even  by  disinterested  parties,  one  of 
Clie  greatest  chiefs  in  Kaffraria,  and  by  themselves 
tha  gieatest  among  men,  they  gave  him  the  name 
Di*  "  Ngangelizwe,"  which  means,  "  Big  as  the 
wvi  Id ." 

Jl  is  brother's  name  is  "  Usiqukati,"  which  means 
*'  strength."  Though  not  so  tall  as  the  paramount 
duel',  he  has  a  breadth  and  depth  of  chest  and  develop- 
ment of  muscle,  indicating  great  strength  of  body, 
and  a  physiognomy  bespeaking  a  strength  of  charac- 
ter and  will  greatly  superior  to  that  of  his  "  big  " 
brother.  I  said  to  the  missionaries,  that  I  believed  aa 
a  Christian  "  Usiqukati"  would  be  firm  to  martyr- 
dom, but  as  a  heathen  chief  he  was  capable  of  becom- 
ing as  Hazael  of  Syria,  or  as  Chalca,  the  Zulu.  They 
replied  that  1  bad  just  expressed  their  own  previous 
opinion  in  regard  to  him. 

Ngangelizwe  has  a  very  extensive,  rich,  grassy, 
well- watered,  undulating,  beautiful  country.      His 


PEEACHING  TO  TER  JIUEF  ANI>  HIS  COUNSELLORS.    301 

tribe  numbers  about  one  hundred  thousand  souls,  of 
whom  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  are  warriors.  The 
chief  is  nearly  six  feet  in  height,  straight,  well- 
proportioned,  of  the  copper  Kaffir  complexion,  in- 
stead of  black,  a  smooth,  pleasant  countenance,  a 
sweet,  charming  voice,  which  I  at  ouce  remembered 
was  exactly  like  that  of  his  brother  "  Matanzima," 
before  mentioned,  as  being  almost  persuaded  to  be  a 
Christian  at  "  Woodhouse  Forest."  The  two  chiefs 
took  tea  with  us  in  the  mission-house,  while  the 
"Aruapakati"  and  their  attendants  went  to  the  huts 
provided  for  them. 

The  chiefs  were  well-dressed  in  English  costume, 
but  their  men  had  each  simply  a  "kaross"  of  dressed 
skin  or  a  red  blanket. 

Soon  we  are  all  in  the  chapel  for  the  evening  ser- 
vice, Charles  and  I  stand  side  by  side  in  the  altar;  to  our 
right  and  left  sit  the  missionaries,  Hargraves,  Gedye, 
and  Raynor ;  in  the  front  seats  before  the  altar- 
railings  sit  the  great  chief  and  his  brother,  and  on 
the  same  seats  in  front  about  a  dozen  Europeans, 
including  several  British  soldiers  from  Fingo-land. 
Then  we  see  next  the  body  of  the  chapel  half  way 
down,  filled  with  these  heathen  counsellors  and 
attendants,  and  a  lot  of  red  heathen  from  Fingo- 
land,  making,  perhaps,  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  this 
class ;  then,  in  the  rear,  and  at  all  the  doors  and 
windows  outside,  are  the  regular  worshippers  to 
whom  we  have  been  preaching  twice  per  day  for 
four  days. 


302 


CT.ARKEBURY. — UMGWALI. 


Text :  the  third  and  fourth  verses  of  the  eighth 
chapter  of  Romans.  We  have  learned  to  apply  the 
moral  law  to  Kaffir  lives  and  Kaffir  hearts,  and 
to  proclaim  to  heathen  minds  the  Gospel  tidings, 
proffering  in  Christ  a  perfect,  present,  available 
supply  for  every  demand  of  their  souls,  and  the 
personal  Holy  Spirit  ever  waiting  to  make  the  saving 
application  to  the  hearts  of  all  who  will  consent 
"  to  walk  after  the  Spirit  and  not  after  the  flesh." 
"We  observe  profound  attention  and  great  apparent 
concern  among  our  heathen  hearers.  They  have 
been  debating  the  cause  for  several  days  whether 
or  not  they  would  give  us  a  hearing,  have  refused 
to  allow  us  to  go  to  "  the  Great  Place"  to  preach, 
and  have  come  here  with  the  avowed  determination 
not  to  submit  to  Gospel  requirements,  but  the  Iloly 
Spirit  is  evidently  laying  the  law  to  their  hearts, 
and  revealing  to  their  dark  minds  the  light  that 
leads  to  life,  if  they  will  but  "  walk  in  the  light 
while  they  have  it."  A  mighty  contest  between  the 
powers  of  heaven  and  hell  is  pending.  This  heathen 
king,  his  counsellors,  and  men,  every  one  of  them, 
consent  to  the  laws  of  God  that  they  are  good,  and 
that  God's  Gospel  terms  are  reasonable  and  right, 
but  there  is  that  other  "  law  in  their  members,"  the 
gravitating  law  of  their  carnal  nature  with  its  deep 
downward  channels  of  sinful  habit,  and  its  accursed 
ramifications  of  heathenish  superstitions  and  customs, 
all  combining  to  strengthen  their  avowed  political 
league  against  Christ,  and  all  these  complications  of 


Warner's  appeal.  303 

iniquity  employed  as  leverage  against  their  perish- 
ing souls  worked  by  the  "principalities  and  powers" 
of  hell.  Is  it  possible  to  storm  these  strongholds  cf 
Satan  and  rescue  these  heathen  captives  at  a  single 
service  ?  Will  they  even  tarry  for  the  prayer- 
meeting  ? 

We  close  the  preaching  service  and  dismiss  the 
congregation,  to  give  an  opportunity  for  all  to  leave 
who  do  not  prefer  to  remain  for  the  after- service. 
Not  one  stirs  to  get  out.  We  call  for  the  seekers  to 
kneel  before  God,  surrender  to  Him,  and  accept 
Christ.  Many  of  our  former  hearers  "  fall  down  on 
their  faces  and  worship  God,"  and  soon  "  report " 
from  a  blessed  experience  of  pardon  that  "  God  is  in 
them  of  a  truth/' 

The  chief  and  his  people  sit,  and  gaze,  and  won 
der.  During  the  prayer-meeting  Brother  Henry  B. 
Warner  stands  up  near  the  window  to  my  right,  and 
by  his  commanding  appearance,  good  voice,  and  elo 
quent  euphonious  ring  of  the  Kaffir  language,  at; 
once  arrests  the  attention  of  the  whole  assembly, 
and,  addressing  the  chief  and  his  counsellors,  tells 
them  the  story  of  his  own  conversion  to  God — they 
all  knew  him  well  from  of  old,  and  knew  what  a 
Binner  he  had  been,  and  now  learned  the  details  of 
God's  saving  mercy  to  him,  demonstrating  the  truth 
of  the  Gospel  news  they  had  heard  that  night — fol- 
lowed by  an  earnest  exhortation  to  them  to  seek 
God  without  a  moment's  delay.  Then  we  all  kneel 
down  in  solemn  silent  prayer.     Nothing  is   heard 


304  CLARK  EBURY. — UMGWALI. 

now  but  the  suppressed  sighs  and  sobs  of  wounded 
souls  in  the  different  parts  of  the  house,  pierced  with 
the  Spirit's  "  two-edged  sword." 

The  presence  of  God  the  Holy  Spirit,  moving  per- 
ceptively among  the  prostrate  mass  of  men  before 
us,  becomes  awfully  sublime  beyond  description.  The 
salvation  of  these  heathens  now  hangs  in  the  scales 
of  a  poised  beam;  many  of  us  feel  that  the  Spirit 
hath  clearly  offered  to  them  the  gift  of  eternal 
life  in  Christ.  They  are  almost  persuaded.  They 
have  reached  a  crisis.  Let  any  one  of  these  old 
counsellors  avowedly  take  a  decided  stand  for  God, 
and  the  whole  of  them  will  follow  his  example. 
Unable  to  get  beyond  that  point,  we  close  the  service 
at  eleven  p.m.,  and  all  silently  retire  from  the  field  to 
come  up  to  the  work  again  in  the  morning. 

Early  the  next  day  Brother  Warner  had  a  long 
talk  with  Ngangelizwe's  counsellors.  They  admitted 
to  him  that  what  they  had  heard  at  the  service  the 
night  before  was  true,  and  that  they  were  conscious 
of  an  extraordinary  influence  on  their  minds,  and 
that  they  believed  their  chief  wanted  to  accept 
Christ ;  but  said  they,  "  Ngangelizwe  cannot  act 
alone,  for  he  is  bound  by  solemn  promise  not  to  be  a 
Christian,  and  none  of  us  can  act  alone,  because  we 
exacted  that  promise  from  him,  and  we  are  bound  in 
honour  to  stand  to  our  own  position.  We  cannot  go 
and  do  ourselves  what  we  have  bound  the  chief  not 
to  do."  One  of  them  proposed,  and  nearly  all  the 
rest  concurred,  that  they  should  call  a  great  council 


PROPOSITION  TO  UNITE  CHUTvCH  AND  STATE.         305 

of  all  the  chiefs  and  leading  men  of  the  nation,  and 
debate  the  cause,  and  see  if  they  will  consent  to 
abandon  their  old  customs,  and  adopt  the  religion  of 
Christ  as  the  religion  of  their  nation.  Brother  Warner 
came  at  once  to  me  with  their  proposition  to  inquire 
whether  I  thought  we  had  better  entertain  it. 

I  replied,  "  It  may  be  a  trick  of  Satan  to  keep 
some  of  them  from  a  personal  acceptance  of  Christ 
to-day  ;  if  not  a  device  of  the  evil  one,  but,  as  I  hope, 
a  sincere  expression  of  new  desire  kindled  in  their 
hearts  by  the  awakening  Spirit,  it  is  a  proposition 
that  we  cannot  turn  to  account,  as  we  will  be  leaving 
to-morrow,  and,  unless  a  much  larger  number  of  the 
counsellors  and  chiefs  of  the  nation  were  brought  under 
the  awakening  power  of  the  Spirit  than  we  have  here, 
it  would  be  hazardous  to  submit  such  a  question  to  a 
national  council,  as  they  would  be  sure,  by  majority, 
to  decide  against  Christianity,  and  thus  lengthen  and 
strengthen  the  wicked  alliance  already  formed  against 
it.  Such  a  proposition,  however,  originating  with 
the  '  Amapakati '  should  be  kindly  entertained,  and 
the  spirit  prompting  it  encouraged,  but  action  in 
that  direction  now  would  be  premature.  We  must 
urge  them  to  accept  Christ  to-day,  each  one  for  him- 
self, and  take  the  consequences.'-'  That  day  we  had 
the  chiefs  and  councillors  in  chapel  in  the  same 
order  as  the  night  before.  We  preached  from  St. 
Luke's  abstract  of  St.  Paul's  preaching  to  a  heathen 
audience  on  "  Mar's  Hill,"  on  the  "  Unknown  God." 
We  traced  the  parallel  between  the  moral  condition 


808  CLA.RKEBURY — UMGWALI. 

and  superstitious  worship  of  the  literary  heathen  of 
Athens,  and  the  illiterate  heathen  Tambookies.  We 
have  clear  indications  in  Kaffir  traditions,  sacrifices, 
and  devotions,  of  the  struggle  of  their  moral  nature  to 
feel  after  the  "  Unknown  God,"  and  to  find  a  supply 
for  the  conscious  woes  and  wants  of  their  souls. 
Having  dug  down  effectually  into  the  regions  of  their 
beliefs  and  conscious  experiences,  and  having  brought 
out  their  admitted  facts  demonstrating  the  truth  of 
Bible  delineations  of  human  corruption,  guilt,  and 
bondage,  and  their  vain  efforts,  by  their  sacrifices 
and  sufferings,  to  atone  for  their  sins,  or  give  "  rest 
for  their  souls,"  we  declared  to  them  the  "  Unknown 
God,"  and  His  glorious  provision  of  mercy  for  them 
in  Christ.  We  then  pressed  home  the  fact,  that  God 
"  now  commandeth  all  men  everywhere  to  repent." 
Illustrating  the  work  of  repentance,  wrought  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  hearts  of  sinners,  resulting  in 
their  acceptance  of  Christ,  I  gave,  among  other  ex- 
amples, the  cases  of  Thackenbau,  King  of  Fiji, 
and  of  George  the  Third,  King  of  the  Friendly 
Islands.  I  showed  that  their  complications  in  the 
sin  of  polygamy,  and  all  forms  of  heathenism,  were 
quite  as  bad  as  anything  in  Kaffirland,  but  that 
yielding  to  the  Spirit  they  had  triumphed,  and  had 
become  Christians.  I  gave  them  the  sto^  about 
King  George,  as  given  me  by  the  Apostle  Peter — 
that  old  apostle  to  the  Friendly  and  Navigators' 
Islands,  Rev.  Peter  Turner.  When  their  first  chapel 
Was  opened,    and  the  king  came  in  and  saw  the 


KING    GEORGE    AND    HIS    PULPIT.  807 

preacher  in  the  pulpit — a  man  higher  up  than  him- 
self— he  was  displeased.  But  instead  of  making  any 
trouble  about  it,  he  had  a  pulpit  built  for  himself  the 
next  week  in  the  opposite  end  of  the  chapel,  a  few 
inches  higher  than  the  minister's  pulpit.  When  the 
king  saw  the  missionary  ascend  to  his  pulpit,  he 
quietly  went  up,  and  seated  himself  in  his  pulpit. 

After  awhile  the  missionary  and  his  leading  men 
united  together  daily  to  read  God's  book  of  instruc- 
tions to  see  how  they  were  to  proceed  in  their  work, 
and  prayed  daily  for  the  Holy  Ghost  to  come  down 
and  "  abide  with  them,"  and  through  their  agency 
do  His  mighty  work  of  saving  the  king  and  his 
people.  After  continuing  thus  to  wait  "with  one 
accord "  for  many  days,  the  Holy  Ghost  came  in 
mighty  power. 

The  news  ran  all  over  the  island,  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  had  come,  and  was  waiting  to  lead  them  to 
Jesus,  and  save  their  souls.  The  people  nocked 
together  from  every  direction,  and  while  they  listened 
to  the  words  of  God  from  His  Book,  "  they  were 
pricked  in  their  hearts/'  and  many  cried  out  in 
the  agony  of  their  souls,  and  were  so  affected  by 
the  awakening  power  of  the  Spirit,  that  to  the 
number  of  from  two  to  three  hundred  at  one  time 
they  lay  apparently  dead  for  hours,  but  always  came 
up  rejoicing,  and  praising  God  for  His  great  salvation. 

The  king  himself  was  awakened,  and  came  down 
from  his  high  pulpit,  and  sat  in  the  dust.  His 
proud  heart  yielded  to  the  Spirit's  power.     Still  it 


808  CLARKEBURY — UMGWALT. 

did  not  give  way  all  at  once.  He  told  the  missionary 
lie  wanted  to  give  up  his  sins,  and  seek  God,  but  did 
not  want  to  bow  down  with  his  common  people,  and 
asked  the  missionary  to  allow  him  to  pray  behind 
the  altar-screen,  which  was  a  net-work  of  young 
bamboo  rods,  and  would  conceal  him  from  the  eyes 
of  his  people. 

Brother  Turner  said,  "  Yes,  King  George,  you  may 
kneel  down  wherever  you  like,  and  give  your  heart 
to  God/'  The  king  went  behind  the  screen  and 
fell  down  on  his  face  and  cried  to  God  to  have  mercy 
on  his  poor  soul.  He  is  a  man  six  feet  four  inches 
high,  and  rolling  in  an  agony  of  soul  he  kicked 
down  the  screen  and  lay  full  length  before  his 
people,  and  cared  for  nothing  but  how  he  might  save 
his  soul. 

His  pride  was  broken,  and  he  fully  felt  the  burden 
of  his  sins,  but  got  no  relief  till  after  he  went  home 
that  night.  About  midnight,  he  gave  his  wicked 
heart  to  God,  and  received  Jesus,  and  got  all  his 
sins  forgiven,  and  received  a  new  heart.  He  wrote 
a  letter  to  Brother  Turner  that  night,  telling  him 
that  he  had  found  Jesus,  and  that  his  soul  was  happy. 
Some  days  after,  he  had  a  great  many  of  his  people 
together,  and  told  them  that  he  had  embraced  Christ, 
and  was  happy,  and  said  to  them,  "  Do  you  see  that 
post  ?  "  pointing  to  a  post  of  the  chapel  building, 
"  now,  just  as  certain  as  you  knove  that  you  see  that 
post,  just  so  certainly  I  know  that  God,  for  Christ's 
sake,  has  pardoned  my  sins,  and  made  me  his  child." 


AN    ILLUSTRATION    APPLIED.  309 

*'  Many  wicked  people  said,"  I  continued,  "  as 
suck  will  say  about  Ngangelizwe,  that  if  King 
George  embraced  Christ,  he  would  lose  his  king- 
dom, just  as  though  the  great  God  of  heaven  and 
earth,  to  whom  all  power  belongs,  could  not,  or 
would  not,  maintain  the  rightful  authority  of  a  ruler, 
because  such  ruler  became  loyal  to  God,  his  Divine 
Sovereign.  Did  King  George  lose  his  kingdom 
by  becoming  a  Christian  ?  Nay,  many  who  were 
not  his  people  have  come  under  his  authority 
because  he  was  a  Christian,  and  he  became  a 
greater  king  than  ever  before ;  he  also  became 
a  preacher,  and  is  employed  every  Sabbath  in 
preaching  Jesus  to  his  people.  A  man  forfeits  no 
rights  by  accepting  Christ  as  his  Saviour,  but  he 
cannot  accept  Christ  until  he  consents  to  give  up 
all  his  sins,  and  submit  that  Christ  shall  take  from 
him,  or  return  to  him,  anything  and  everything  he 
holds  dear.  A  man  who  would  not,  if  necessary, 
give  up  a  kingdom  to  receive  Christ,  will,  for  the 
sake  of  a  little  bit  of  authority,  which  he  can  hold 
but  a  few  years  at  most,  reject  Christ,  and  perish  ! " 

We  explain,  in  simplicity,  the  duty  of  repent- 
ance, and  an  intelligent  acceptance  of  Christ  by 
faith  in  God's  own  record  concerning  Him,  and  th& 
Spirit's  witness  and  renewing  work,  demonstrat- 
ing the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  saving  power  of 
Jesus.  At  the  csose  of  the  sermon,  we  proceed  as 
usual  with  the  prayer-meeting.  A  large  number  of 
seekers  come  forward,  and  a  similar  struggle  to  that 


310  CLARKEinjRY — UMGWALI. 

of  last  night,  between  the  powers  of  light  and  dark- 
ness, ensues.  Ngangelizwe  shows  great  concern  ;  his 
brother  is  evidently  in  an  agony  of  awakening  ;  some 
counsellors  seem  in  great  distress  ;  others  of  them,  by 
their  looks,  and  a  scoffing  display  of  their  great  teeth, 
are  using  their  influence  against  the  work.  One 
fellow,  with  a  large  cow-skin  "  kaross "  over  his 
shoulders,  is  "  a  child  of  the  devil,"  an  "  enemy  of 
all  righteousness,"  as  full  of  all  subtilty  and  mis- 
chief as  Elymas  the  sorcerer. 

In  the  midst  of  the  prayer-meeting,  Charles  rises 
from  his  knees,  and  stands  within  arm's  length  of 
the  chief  and  his  brother,  and  exhorts  them  person- 
ally for  half  an  hour.  You  see  at  once  that  my 
Zulu  is  master  of  the  difficult  situation.  The  natural 
gracefulness  and  perfection  of  his  action,  and  the 
power  of  his  logic,  told  manifestly  on  the  trembling 
Felix  before  him.  The  missionaries,  and  others  who 
understood  the  Kaffir,  said  afterwards  that  they 
never  heard  such  a  display  of  Kaffir  oratory  in  all 
their  lives.  He  explained  to  Ngangelizwe  that  "  the 
powers  that  be  are  of  God,"  and  hence  it  was  for 
God,  and  not  a  lot  of  wicked  counsellors,  to  put  down 
one  ruler  and  set  up  another,  and  that  a  man  who 
will  reject  the  counsel  of  God  and  follow  the  counsel 
of  wicked  men,  shall  as  certainly  come  to  grief  as 
that  the  righteous  God  rules  in  the  heavens. 

"  Kobi  and  Pato,"  continued  Charles,  "  were  great 
ehiefs.     Kama,  their  brother,  was  a  boy,  and  had  no 


pamla's  last  appeal  to  the  chiefs.        311 

people.  These  three  chiefs  had  the  offer  of  Christ, 
Kama  was  the  only  one  that  accepted  Him  ;  Kobi 
andPato  rejected  Christ,  and  called  Kama  a  fool,  and 
said  he  would  be  a  scabby  goat,  and  never  have  any 
people.  Their  wicked  counsellors  told  them,  if  they 
received  Christ  they  would  lose  all  their  people,  all 
their  cattle,  and  have  nothing,  like  poor  Kama ;  but 
what  was  the  result  ?  God  gave  them  up  to  follow 
their  wicked  counsellors,  who  advised  them  to  go  to 
war  with  the  English.  Kobi  died  a  miserable  refu- 
gee, and  got  the  burial  of  a  dog.  Pato  has  spent 
many  miserable  years  a  prisoner  on  Robin  Island. 
Kama  remained  true  to  God,  and  kept  out  of  the  war 
against  the  English,  and  now  all  the  people  of  the 
Amaxosa  nation,  once  ruled  by  Kobi,  and  Pato  belong 
to  Kama,  who  is  going  down  to  his  grave  in  honour- 
able old  age,  in  the  midst  of  peace  and  plenty,  full 
of  a  glorious  hope  of  a  blessed  home  in  heaven.  More 
than  one  thousand  of  his  people  have  accepted  Christ, 
and  all  of  them  abide  in  the  peaceable  possession  of 
their  homes,  under  the  protection  of  the  British 
Government."  This  but  indicates  the  range  of 
Charles's  inimitable  discourse  to  Ngangelizwe,  and 
he  appealed  most  solemnly  to  Usiqukati  to  submit  to 
God  and  receive  Christ,  whatever  the  chief  and  his 
counsellors  might  do- 

The  ground  of  Charles'  special  appeal  to  Ngange- 
lizwe's  brother  was  that,  next  to  Ngangelizwe,  he 
was  the  royal  heir  to  the  supreme  chieftainship  of 


312  CLARKEBURY — UMGWALI. 

the  nation,  and  the  rival  that  the  people  intended  to 
promote,  instead  of  his  older  brother,  if  Ngangelizwe 
had  refused  to  remain  a  heathen.  The  illustrative 
points  of  his  speech  to  Usiqukati  were  as  follows, 
having  previously  expended  on  him  the  power  of  the 
highest  moral  motives,  he  now  mixed  them  with 
political  arguments  with  two  edges,  to  cut  both 
chiefs  at  the  same  time  : — 

"  Now  Usiqukati,"  said  Charles,  "if  Ngangelizwe  rejects 
Christ,  and  remains  in  his  sins,  you  take  my  advice,  just 
surrender  yourself  to  God,  as  you  know  His  Holy  Spirit  is 
now  telling  you  to  do  in  your  heart,  and  receive  Jesus 
Christ  as  your  Saviour,  and  you  will  not  only  be  saved  from 
your  sins,  but  you  will  take  away  the  crown  from  Ngan- 
gelizwe  while  he  is  asleep.  If  you  become  a  child  of  God, 
you  are  sure  to  become  the  greater  chief.  God  is  supreme, 
above  all  kings,  and  if  you  become  a  child  of  God,  and 
Ngangelizwe  remains  a  child  of  the  devil,  God  will  be  sure 
to  give  you  his  state,  as  the  great  chief  of  the  Tambookies. 

"  Be  wise  now,  like  old  Kama,  who  first  took  the  word 
of  the  great  God,  and  after  that  became  the  chief  of 
the  Amaxosa  nation,  while  his  ruling  brothers  were  cast 
down  to  destruction.  Be  wise,  like  King  David,  who  took 
the  Word  of  God  first,  when  Saul,  his  father-in-law,  was 
the  great  king  of  Israel ;  but  Saul,  like  Ngangelizwe,  re- 
fused God,  while  David  remained  true  to  God,  and  became 
the  great  chief  of  that  mighty  nation,  and  Saul  came  to  a 
miserable  end.  Be  wise,  young  man,  like  King  Solomon, 
who  was  the  wisest  man  in  the  world,  and  who  took  the 
Lord  God  of  his  father  David  for  his  God,  and  became  the 
greatest  king  of  Israel  after  his  father's  death.  Be  wise, 
Usiqukati,  like  the  white  men,  who  love  God,  and  who,  in 


THE    CHIEF'S    SUDDEN   DEPARTURE.  813 

spite  of  the  bad  men  among  them,  have  become  the  greatest 
people  in  the  world,  and  the  head  of  us  all."  Then  turning 
to  Ngangelizwe,  he  said,  "  I  see  that  your  younger  brother 
is  ready  to  take  your  State  if  you  refuse ;  if  you  accept 
Christ,  you  will  retain  it ;  but  if  you  reject,  and  he  accepts 
Christ,  he  will  be  sure  of  your  crown." 

Our  time  for  such  a  work  was  too  short.  I  felt 
sure  that  they  could  not  stand  many  such  shocks  of 
awakening  truth,  applied  by  the  Spirit's  power,  as 
it  was  on  the  two  occasions  we  had  them  before 
us.  Ngangelizwe  afterwards  shook  hands  with 
Charles,  and  they  had  a  friendly  private  interview. 
The  political  league  seemed  to  be  the  principal 
barrier.  ' 

Ngangelizwe  said  he  would  stay  and  hear  us  again 
that  evening ;  but  about  sunset  a  man  came  dashing 
down  the  hill  at  full  speed,  his  horse  in  a  foam 
of  perspiration  and  panting  for  breath,  and  an- 
nounced that  one  of  Ngangelizwe's  children  was 
dying,  and  that  the  chief  must  return  to  the  "  Great 
Place  *'  at  once. 

The  chief  said  he  was  very  sorry  to  leave,  but 
that  he  was  obliged  to  go.  We  had  a  private  talk 
to  him  on  his  peculiar  embarrassments  and  duties, 
and  on  our  plan  of  enlarging  the  range  of  mission- 
work  in  his  nation,  having  the  station  simply  as  the 
head,  but  regular  preaching  in  all  the  principal 
centres  of  popula  ■'ion,  and  to  have  his  people  who 
accept  Christ  not  to  leave  their  former  homes  and 
come  to  the  mission-station  to  live,  but  to  remain 


314  CLARKEBUHY — UMGWALI. 

and  let  their  light  shine  in  the  kraals  to  which  they 
belong.  I  learned,  some  weeks  afterwards,  that 
ISTgangelizwe  invited  one  of  the  Local  Preachers  to 
preach  at  his  Great  Place,  and  after  he  had  preached, 
told  him  to  come  every  Sunday  and  preach  to  him, 
for  he  wanted  "to  have  preaching  at  his  place  what- 
ever the  Amapakati  might  say."  The  missionaries 
believed  that  all  that  ado  about  the  dying  child  was 
got  up  by  some  of  those  wicked  counsellors  to 
hurry  Ngangelizwe  away  for  fear  he  would  that  night 
become  a  Christian.  The  extraordinary  unction  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  attending  His  truth  on  those  two 
occasions  leads  me  to  believe  that  much  greater 
results  than  were  manifested  at  the  time  will  "be  seen 
after  many  days."  Having  thus  lost  the  heathen 
portion  of  our  audience,  instead  of  preaching  that 
night  as  we  intended,  we  had  a  fellowship-meeting. 
Up  to  that  period  of  our  series  of  services,  185 
persons,  on  a  personal  examination,  had  professed 
to  have  obtained  the  pardon  of  their  sins.  About 
seventy,  principally  the  young  converts,  spoke  at 
our  fellowship-meeting  that  night.  I  sat  beside 
Brother  William  Davis,  who  interpreted  their  talk 
to  me.  It  was  marvellously  interesting;  I  can  give 
but  a  few  specimens,  and  they  are  as  weak  as  water 
compared  with  their  native  Kaffir  originals,  accom- 
panied by  graceful  action,  and  tears,  and  the  peculiar 
idiomatic  force  of  their  language.  A  woman  said, 
"  I  have  for  a  long  time  been  a  member  of  the 
Church  according  to   the   flesh,   but   now  I  am  a 


A  MEMBER  OF  THE  CHURCH  ACCORDING  TO  THE  FLESU.  315 

member  of  the  Church,  according  to  the  Spirit.  Last 
Sunday  in  this  chapel  the  light  of  God  shone  into 
my  heart,  and  showed  me  my  sins.  I  was  stricken 
down  by  the  power  of  His  Spirit,  but  I  cried  to  God, 
and  received  Jesus  Christ,  and  He  lifted  me  up, 
and  made  me  His  child."  Another  said,  "  My  father 
was  a  doctor,  and  while  he  lived  I  thought  there 
was  no  danger  of  my  dying,  so  I  gave  no  attention 
to  my  soul.  But  my  father  died,  and  then  I  felt 
that  death  was  very  near  to  me,  and  that  I  was  not 
ready  to  die,  so  I  tried  to  get  ready  to  die,  but  I  never 
saw  what  a  wretched  sinner  I  was  till  last  Sunday ; 
then  I  cried  to  God,  and  took  Jesus  as  my  Saviour !  My 
soul  is  happy,  and  I  am  not  afraid  to  die  now !  My 
poor  father  is  dead,  but  Jesus  is  my  doctor  now,  and 
He  will  never  die ! "  Another  said,  "  My  father 
was  a  good  man,  and  died  happy  in  the  Lord.  When 
he  was  dying  he  called  his  children  round  him,  and 
said,  '  I  have  done  all  I  could,  my  children,  to  take 
care  of  you,  and  bring  you  up  to  walk  in  the  right  way. 
Now  I  am  going  to  leave  you,  and  your  mother  has 
gone  before  me.  Now,  my  dear  children,  my  last 
words  to  you  are,  that  you  give  your  hearts  to  God, 
and  take  Him  as  your  Father,  for  He  will  never  die.' 
We  all  told  our  father  that  we  would,  and  ever  since 
that  I  have  been  praying  to  God,  but  never  found 
Jesus  as  my  Saviour,  till  last  Monday  night,  in  thia 
chapel.  Now  I  know  that  Jesus  is  my  Saviour,  and 
that  God,  who  will  never  die,  is  my  Father."  A  man 
stood  up  and  said,  "  I   always   hated  the  mission- 


316  CLARKE  BURY — UMGVVALI. 

stations,  and  I  hated  all  the  people  who  wcr.fc  to 
them.  Often  when  I  have  seen  them  going  to 
chapel,  I  got  so  angry,  I  wanted  to  kill  them.  But 
I  heard  that  Isikunisivutayo  was  coming  and  I  came 
to  see  what  was  to  be  done.  I  stood  outside  the 
chapel  last  Sunday,  and  laughed  and  mocked.  On 
Monday  night  I  came  in,  and  Isikunisivutayo  set  me 
on  fire,  and  I  felt  that  I  was  sinking  into  hell,  I 
left  as  quick  as  I  could,  and  started  home,  but  my 
sins  were  such  a  load  on  me  I  could  not  run,  but 
fell  down,  and  thought  I  was  going  to  die.  The 
next  morning  I  felt  very  glad  that  I  was  not  in  hell. 
I  came  to  the  meeting  that  day  and  received  Jesus, 
and  now  my  soul  is  full  of  glory." 

"  Isikunisivutayo  "  means  a  burning  fire-stick  or 
torch,  used  by  the  Kaffirs  for  burning  the  dry  grass. 
In  the  fall,  the  whole  country  is  covered  with  a  thick 
growth  of  brown  grass,  from  one  to  two  feet  in 
height.  As  spring  approaches,  to  get  the  full  benefit 
of  the  new  crop  for  their  cattle,  they  take  their 
burning  fire-sticks  and  soon  set  a  thousand  hills  in 
a  blaze,  spreading  and  sweeping  in  every  direction  to 
prepare  the  way  for  the  new  harvest  of  grass.  It  is 
common  with  the  Kaffirs  to  give  every  distinguished 
stranger  some  characteristic  name,  by  which,  instead 
of  his  real  name,  he  is  known  among  them. 

I  was  told  beforehand  that  I  would  get  a  new 
name,  and  there  were  not  a  few  European  conjec- 
tures as  to  what  it  should  be.  Some  thought  it 
would  be  "  Longbeard,"  which  bears  no  comparison 


"  TOUGH  AS  THE  HIDE  OF  A  RHINOCEROS."         317 

to  the  appreciative,  poetic,  descriptive  name  which 
the  Kaffirs  gave  me,  "  The  Burning  Fire-Stick,-" 
which  the  Lord  was  using  to  set  the  whole  country 
in  a  blaze,  burn  up  all  their  old  dead  works,  and 
prepare  the  way  for  spiritual  life,  verdure,  and 
plenty.  Among  the  converted  heathen  at  that  fel- 
lowship-meeting, one  old  man  arose,  threw  his  kaross 
gracefully  across  his  breast,  and  over  his  left 
shoulder,  and  told  a  marvellous  story  about  his 
heathenish  prejudices  against  the  mission-stations 
and  the  missionaries.  "  My  heart,"  said  he,  "  was 
as  tough  as  the  hide  of  a  rhinoceros,  but  last  night 
the  Spirit's  sword  cut  right  through  it,  and  let  in  the 
light  of  God.  I  received  Jesus  Christ,  and  He  gave 
me  a  tender  heart  filled  with  His  love/' 

These  are  mere  specimen  illustrations  of  the  expe- 
rience of  over  sixty  persons  who  spoke,  and  nearly  all 
they  said  was  repeated  to  me  in  English,  sentence 
by  sentence,  by  Brother  William  Davis ;  but  the  ex- 
amples given  may  suffice.  Brother  Davis  is  a  native 
of  Kaffraria,  and  a  fine  Kaffir  scholar.  He  is  the 
translator  of  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  into  Kaffir. 
He  is  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits,  but  received  a 
fresh  baptism  of  the  Spirit  during  our  series,  and  has 
eince  commenced  preaching  to  the  Kaffirs  as  a  Local 
Preacher,  and  I  should  not  be  surprised  if  the  Lord 
of  the  harvest  should  call  him  to  devote  his  whole 
time  to  the  work  of  gathering  in  precious  souls.  I 
jrot  him  to  translate  "  The  Eden  Above"  into  Kaffir. 
.It  was  composed  by  Rev.  Wm.  Hunter,  D.D.,  Pro- 


318  CLARKEBURY UMGWALI. 

fessor  of  Hebrew  in  Alleghany  College,  Pa.,  U.S.  I 
introduced  it  into  Australia,  Tasmania,  and  New  Zea- 
land. Hev.  W.  Moor  took  it  from  Sydney  to  Fiji, 
and  Rev.  Brother  Calvert  inserted  it  into  the  new 
Fijian  Hymn-book,  so  that  it  is  being  sung  all 
through  those  portions  of  the  southern  world,  and 
now  the  mountains  and  vales  of  Kaffraria  echo  its 
measures,  as  sung  by  the  pilgrim  bands  of  the  sable 
hosts  as  they  march  along  to  the  Eden  above.  I  will 
first  insert  the  hymn  as  we  have  it  from  the  author, 
and  then  in  the  Kaffir,  accompanied  by  a  literal  ren- 
dering of  the  Kaffir  into  English,  which  will  illus- 
trate the  idiomatic  difficulty  of  translating  an  English 
hymn  into  Kaffir.  As  I  before  stated,  while  we  have 
many  good  Kaffir  hymns,  mostly  composed  by  Kev. 
Brother  Dugmore,  we  have  but  one  of  Wesley's  in- 
comparable hymns  in  the  Kaffir.  Yet  it  will  be  seen 
that  Brother  Davis  not  only  put  the  poetic  thought 
of  "The  Eden  Above "  in  the  Kaffir,  but  in  some  cases 
strengthened  it,  especially  to  a  Kaffir  mind. 

"  THE  EDEN  ABOVE." 
We're  bound  for  the  land  of  the  pure  and  the  holy, 

The  home  of  the  happy,  the  kingdom  of  love, 
Ye  wanderers  from  God  in  the  broad  road  of  folly, 
Oh  say,  will  you  go  to  the  Eden  above  ? 

Will  you  go  ?  will  you  go  ?  will  you  go  ?  will  you  go  ? 
O  say,  will  you  go  to  the  Eden  above  1 

In  that  blessed  land — neither  sighing  nor  anguish, 

Can  breathe  in  the  fields  where  the  glorified  rove, 
Ye  heart-burdened  ones  who  in  misery  languish, 
O  say,  will  you  go  to  the  Eden  above  1 
Will  you  go  ?  &c. 


"THE   EDEN    ABOVE.''  31U 

No  poverty  there — no  !  the  saints  are  all  wealthy, 
The  heirs  of  His  glory,  whose  nature  is  love, 

No  sickness  can  reach  them,  that  country  is  healthy, 
O  say,  will  you  go  to  the  Eden  ahove  f 
Will  you  go?  &c. 

March  on,  happy  pilgrims,  that  land  is  hefore  you, 
And  soon  its  ten  thousand  delights  we  shall  prove, 

Yes,  soon  we  shall  walk  o'er  the  hills  of  bright  glory, 
And  drink  the  pure  joys  of  the  Eden  above. 
Will  you  go  ?  &c. 

And  yet,  guilty  sinner,  we  do  not  forsake  thee, 
We  halt  yet  a  moment  while  onward  we  move, 

0,  come  to  thy  Lord,  in  His  arms  He  will  take  thee, 
And  bear  thee  along  to  the  Eden  above. 
Will  you  go  ?  &c. 

Methinks  thou  art  now  in  thy  wretchedness  saying, 
O,  who  can  this  guilt  from  my  conscience  remove  ? 
No  other  but  Jesus  !  then  come  to  Him  praying, 
Prepare  me,  O  Lord,  for  the  Eden  above. 
I  will  go !  I  will  go !  I  will  go  !  I  will  go ! 
O,  yes,  I  will  go  to  the  Eden  above. 

ICULA  ELITETA  NGELIZWE  ELI  PEZULU. 

▲  HYMN  WHICH  TELLS  ABOUT   THE  LAND  WBI3H 
IS    ABOVE. 

Sikuyo  indhlela  yelizwe  lobomi, 
We  are  in  the  path  to  the  land  of  life, 
Ikaya  labantu  bahleli  ngenyweba. 

The  home  of  the  people  who  dwell  in  happiness. 

Bahlukani  no  Tixo,  endhleleni  yokona. 

Rebels  from  God,  in  the  way  of  wrong-doing. 

Nitinina  ?     Noyana,  noyana,  pezul-j  f 

What  do  you  say  t     Will  you  go,  will  you  go  abovi  t 

Noyana,  noyana,  noyana,  noyana, 
Nitinina  ?  Noyana,  noyana,  pezulu  P 


820  CLAHKEBURY — UMGWALI. 

TJsizi,  usizi  alunakubaku, 

Sorrow  or  anguish  cannot  exist  there, 

Kwelozwe  kuhamb'  abangcwele. 

In  that  country  travel  the  holy. 

Rankliziyo  zinzima,  nigqitywa  bububi. 

The  ones  heart  burdened,  ye  who  languish  in  misery. 

Nitinina  ?  &c. 
What  do  you  say,  &c. 

Kwelozwe  akuko  buhlwempu,  nakanyei 

In  that  country  there  is  no  poverty,  not  a  bit  of  it ; 
Zindyebo  ngendyebo,  izinto  izikoyoj 
It  is  riches  upon  riches,  the  things  that  arejher4{ 

Isifo  asiko,  asingebiko. 

Sickness  is  not  there,  it  cannot  be  there. 

Nitinina,  &c. 

Hambani  bakonzi,  elozwe,  leletu. 

Go  on,  pilgrims,  that  country,  it  is  ours. 
Sonqina,  sinqina  inyameko  zalo  ; 
We  will  prove,  and  prove  again,  the  delights  all; 

Eweke,  sohamba  ngapezu  kwentaba 

Yes,  we  will  travel  upon  the  hills 

Siscle  amanzi  ovuyo  pezulu. 

And  drink  the  water  of  joy  above. 

Noyana,  noyana,  noyana,  noyana, 
Nitinina  ?  Noyana,  noyana,  pezulu  t 

Kanti  ke,  moni,  asikulablile, 

Yet  therefore,  sinner,  we  do  not  throw  thee  awaf, 

SimiP  umzuzwana,  simele  kwa  wenaj 

We  stand  a  little  time,  standing  for  even  you ; 

iizake  ku  Tixo,  akusingate, 
Come  then  to  God,  Ee  will  take  you  in  His  arms, 
Akuse  kwangoku,    ekusa  pezuta. 

And  take  you  even  now,  taking  you  abov*. 

Noyana  ?  &c 


"THE    EDEN   ABOVE."  821 

Ndicinga  ngokuti,  usabunzimeni, 

I  think  this  wise,  thou  art  in  heaviness, 

Usiti,  ngobani  ongalisusayo 

You  saying,  who  can  take  away 

Ityala  lingaka  lisenkliziy  weni  P 

Guilt  so  great  which  is  in  the  heart  t 

Ngu  Yesu  kupela ;  Tandazake.  Uye, 

h  is  Jtsus  alone;  Pray  there/ore.     Going, 

Ndohamba,  ndohamba,  ndobamba,  ndohamba, 

/  Kill  go,    I  will  go,    I  will  go,    I  will  go, 

Eweke,   ndobamba,   ndisiya   pezula. 

Yes,  I  will  <jo,        I  going    abovt. 


CHAPTER  XX 

MORLEY — INCANASEUE. 

Morley  mission-station  was  established  by  Rev. 
William  Shepstone  in  1829,  and  named  in  honour  of 
Rev.  George  Morley,  then  one  of  the  missionary 
secretaries  in  London. 

Those  were  the  days  of  wars  and  rumours  of  wars, 
under  the  reign  of  the  Zulu  chief  Chaka.  Qeta, 
one  of  Chaka's  chiefs,  taking  the  cue  of  his  bloody 
master,  revolted,  and  carried  a  desolating  war  into 
Pondo-land  on  his  own  account.  His  legions  swept 
through  a  great  part  of  the  Amapondo  nation  like  a 
tornado,  leaving  nothing  but  smouldering  villages 
and  the  carcases  of  their  victims  behind  them. 
Brother  Shepstone  and  his  family  were  right  in  their 
path.  The  missionary  heard  the  crash  of  the  com- 
ing storm,  but  remained  at  his  post  till  he  saw  a 
neighbouring  kraal  in  flames  and  the  guerilla  band 
advancing  toward  the  mission  premises.  There 
seemed  then  no  way  of  escape,  but  providentially, 
while  the  mission  family  was  preparing  for  a  hasty 
flight,  they  knew  not  whither,  a  dense  fog  from  the 
river  settled  down  upon  all  the  adjacent  vales  and 


AN    INVADER   CRUSHED.  823 

hills,  under  cover  of  which  the  mission  family  and 
their  people  escaped.  "  The  pillar  of  cloud  stood 
behind  them;"  "it  was  a  cloud  and  darkness  to  them 
(their  pursuers),  "  but  it  gave  light  "  to  the  heaven- 
guarded  strangers  in  the  wilderness.  I  received  the 
narrative  of  this  marvellous  escarp  from  the  lips  of 
Brother  Shepstone  himself. 

The  invaders  were  soon  after  that  overpowered  by 
Faku,  the  great  chief  of  the  Amapondo,  assisted  by 
the  Amabaca,  and  the  Aniapondumsi  Dainasi,  chief 
of  the  Western  Division  of  the  Pondo  nation,  is  said 
to  have  been  a  leading  warrior  chief  in  the  final 
engagement,  which  utterly  crushed  the  Zulu  invader 
and  closed  the  war. 

The  next  year  Mr.  Shepstone  rebuilt  the  Morley 
Station  on  a  new  site,  some  miles  distant  from  the 
former  site,  in  a  more  healthy  location.  After  a 
few  years  of  hard  labour  and  fair  success,  the  pioneer 
was  removed  to  another  new  field,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Itev.  Mr.  Palmer.  After  Mr.  Palmer's  death  in 
1847,  the  mission  declined,  and  lay  waste  for  several 
years.  The  labour  of  those  men  of  God,  to  be  sure, 
was  not  lost,  but  their  flock  being  left  without  a 
shepherd  wandered  off  into  other  folds,  and  a  few 
remained  and  preserved  a  name,  which  was  revived 
by  the  appointment  of  the  Rev.  William  B.  Rayner 
as  their  missionary  four  years  ago.  Brother  Rayner 
is  a  man  of  vory  small  stature.  On  his  arrival  some 
of  Ngangelizwe's  counsellors  scanned  him  closely 
without  saying  a  word,  till  one  of  ^em,  with  an  in- 


324  MORLEY. — INCANASETJE. 

terrogative  exclamation,  said,  "Have  all  the  English- 
men run  out  ?  "  But  Mr.  Bayner  has,  by  his  extra- 
ordinary zeal  and  effectiveness  in  his  work,  demon- 
strated the  truth  of  Dr.  "Watts'  saying,  "  the  mind 
is  the  measure  of  the  man."  Brother  Bayner  has 
rebuilt  Morley  Station  fourteen  miles  west  of  its 
former  site,  in  the  midst  of  a  rich  and  beautiful 
country  of  hills,  and  valleys,  and  rivers  of  water  at 
all  seasons,  belonging  to  the  "  Big  "  Chief,  Ngange- 
lizwe,  who,  though  politically  sworn  to  reject  Christ, 
has  three  Wesleyan  mission-stations  and  one  Angli- 
can within  the  lines  of  his  domains. 

Brother  Bayner,  with  his  own  hands,  assisted  by 
his  natives,  has  built  a  large  comfortable  mission- 
house  and  a  pretty  chapel  which  will  seat  about  four 
hundred  persons,  and  has  built  also  a  small  chapel 
in  a  village,  five  miles  west  of  Morley.  That  part  of 
Kaffraria  is  a  famous  place  for  "  smelling  out  "  and 
the  conviction  of  men  by  their  witch-doctors,  for  the 
crime  of  having  cattle  enough  to  excite  the  covetous- 
ness  of  a  chief,  or  political  influence  enough  to 
render  him  an  object  of  fear,  or  from  any  cause 
laying  him  under  suspicion. 

Their  mode  of  trial  and  conviction  is  thus  described 
by  J.  C.  "Warner,  Esq.,  in  "Kaffir  Laws  and  Customs." 

"  Kaffirs  are  firm  believers  in  sorcery,  or  witch- 
craft, and  they  consider  that  all  the  sickness  and 
other  afflictions  of  life  are  occasioned  thereby,  and 
that  were  it  not  for  the  evil  influence  of  the  f  amag- 
gwira/  none  would  die  but  in  good  old  age. 


"smelling  out"  foe  witches.  325 

"  This  universal  belief  in  witchcraft  has  led  to  the 
almost  entire  neglect  of  the  art  of  healing  by  medi- 
cines, and  to  cause  them  to  trust  wholly  to  the  power 
of  charms,  incantations, '  amadini/  or  sacrifices,  &c. 

"  Hence  their  priests  have  little  or  no  knowledge  of 
the  virtues  of  medicinal  plants,  and  they  trust  en- 
tirely to  such  remedies  as  may  be  revealed  by  the 
'  Imishologu '  (the  spirits  of  their  ancestors),  and 
if,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  they  do  make  use  of 
herbs,  &c,  they  are  always  used  in  conjunction  with 
charms  and  sacrifices,  to  the  efficacy  of  which  theii 
virtues  are  attributed. 

"  They  have,  however,  a  few  very  valuable  medical 
plants  among  them ;  but  the  knowledge  of  these  is 
as  frequently  found  among  other  classes  as  among 
the  priests.  "When  all  ordinary  charms  and  other 
means  have  failed  to  remedy  sickness,  &c,  an  appli- 
cation is  made  to  the  chief  for  permission  to  try  the 
'Umhlahlo'  (smelling  out  for  witchcraft),  for  no 
person  can  have  the  '  Umhlahlo '  performed  without 
the  express  sanction  of  the  chief.  When  this  has 
been  obtained,  the  people  of  the  kraal  in  question, 
together  with  their  neighbours  of  the  surrounding 
kraals,  proceed  in  a  body  to  the  kraal  of  the  priest 
whom  they  intend  to  employ. 

"  The  people  belonging  to  the  priest's  kraal,  with 
those  of  the  surrounding  kraals,  then  assemble.  Two 
semi- circles  are  formed ;  one  of  the  party  of  the 
kraal  seeking  assistance,  and  the  other,  of  the 
adherents  of  the  priest. 


3'2G  MORLEY. — INCANASETJE. 

"  These  semi-circles  are  so  ranged  as  nearly  to  meet 
at  their  points,  thus  forming  an  almost  perfect  circle, 
leaving  only  just  sufficient  space  between  them  to 
admit  the  priest  and  his  assistants. 

"  The  ceremony  of  '  Ukwombe.la  '  (the  first  process 
for  detecting  the  witch)  is  now  commenced,  the  hide 
drums  are  violently  beaten,  the  bundles  of  assegais 
are  struck  together,  accompanied  by  the  well  known 
humming  and  clapping  of  hands  by  the  women.  By- 
and-by,  the  priest  rushes  out  of  his  hut,  springs 
into  the  midst  of  the  circle  of  human  beings  assem- 
bled, and  commences  jumping  about  in  the  most 
frantic  manner,  and  performing  all  sorts  of 
extraordinary  gesticulations.  This  is  called  '  ukux- 
entsa/ 

"The  men  now  beat  their  drums,  and  strike  their 
bundles  of  assegais  together  more  violently  than  ever, 
and  the  women  hum  their  exciting  tunes,  and  clap 
their  hands,  in  an  increasingly  agitated  manner; 
vociferating  all  the  while  for  help,  and  demanding 
who  has  bewitched  them  ? 

"  This  is  continued  until  the  priest  is  wrought  up 
to  the  proper  pitch  of  inspiration  ;  when  he  suddenly 
ceases,  and  retires  to  that  part  of  the  circle  formed 
by  his  own  adherents.  He  then  names  the  persons 
who  have  bewitched  the  afflicted  party  or  parties. 

"  On  their  names  being  pronounced,  that  part  of 
the  circle  where  they  are  sitting  rises  simultaneously, 
fails  back,  and  leaves  the  devoted  victims  sitting 
alone. 


VARIOUS  METHODS  OP  TORTURE.        327 

"  This  is  the  exciting  moment,  and  all  eyes  are 
fixed  upon  them,  while  the  priest  describes  their 
sorceries,  and  the  enchantments  used  by  them  for 
their  diabolical  purposes. 

"  A  rush   is    then  made  upon   them,    and   every 

article — their  kaross,  ornaments,  &c. — is  torn  off  their 

bodies. 

"  They  are  then  given  in  charge  to  certain  parties 

appointed  for  that  purpose,   and  led  away  to  their 

respective  kraals,  there  to  be  tortured  in  the  most 

barbarous  manner,  in  order  to  make  them  '  mbulula/ 

or  reveal  the    materials  by  which  they  performed 

their  enchantments. 

"In  the  bush  country,  where  the  tree-ants  are 
plentiful,  their  nests  are  sought  for ;  the  poor  wretch 
is  laid  down,  water  thrown  over  his  body,  and  the 
nests  beaten  to  pieces  on  him. 

"  This  irritates  the  ants,  and  causes  them  to  bite 
furiously  ;  they  also  creep  into  the  nostrils,  ears, 
eyes,  mouth,  &c,  producing  the  most  excruciating 
pain  by  their  bites. 

"  Sometimes  a  large  fire  is  made,  and  the  poor 
wretch  is  tied  up  to  a  pole,  so  close  to  it,  as  literally 
to  roast  him  alive. 

"  Large  flat  stones  are  also  heated  red  hot,  and 
placed  on  the  groins,  and  applied  to  the  soles  of  the 
feet,  and  other  parts  of  the  body.  Another  mode  of 
torture  resorted  to  is  the  binding  of  a  string  so  tight 
around  the  thumbs  as  to  cause  the  most  acute  agony, 
and  unless  the  poor  creature  does  confess  something, 


328  MORLEY. — INCANASEUE. 

and  produce  some  kind  of  'ubuti,'    or  bewitching 
matter,  he  must  eventually  sink  under  the  torture. 

"When  the  person  altogether  refuses  to  confess, 
which  is  sometimes  the  case,  if  the  people  are  anxious 
to  save  his  life,  the  priest  is  sent  for,  who  produces 
the  '  ubuti '  for  him,  or  assists  him  to  find  it,  by 
refreshing  his  memory,  as  to  its  whereabouts ;  other- 
wise he  is  generally  dispatched  without  ceremony  for 
his  obstinacy.  But  when  an  unfortunate  victim  has 
sufficiently  satisfied  his  tormentors  by  his  confessions, 
he  is  generally  set  at  liberty. 

"  At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings,  the  chiefs 
'imisila/  or  sheriffs,  make  their  appearance  and 
demand  the  '  isizi/  or  fine,  and  which  is  the  same 
number  of  cattle  as  for  any  other  kind  of  homicide. 

"  The  '  isizi '  is  always  paid  by  the  person  charged 
with  witchcraft,  even  should  the  person  supposed  to 
have  been  bewitched  recover. 

"  Very  frequently,  however,  the  chief  acts  in  a 
despotic  manner,  and  seizes  the  whole  of  his  cattle 
(this  is  always  the  case  when  he  is  apolitical  victim), 
but  this  is  not  according  to  law  ;  but  a  mere  arbitrary 
act  of  power. 

"If  the  person  charged  with  witchcraft  dies  under 
the  torture,  or  is  wilfully  killed,  without  the  sanction 
of  the  chief,  the  '  isizi '  must  be  paid  for  his  life 
also;  at  least,  according  to  law,  the  chief  has  the 
power  tp  demand  it,  though  he  often  foregoes  his 
claim." 

"  Persons  charged  with  witchcraft  are  often  put  to 


WITCH-DOCTORS   AND    CHIEFS.  329 

death  by  the  express  command  of  the  chief;  in 
which  case  he  takes  possession  of  the  whole  of  his 
property,  and  frequently  '  eats  up '  the  whole  kraal 
to  which  he  belongs.  This  is  always  the  case  when 
the  '  umhlahlo '  is  made  use  of  as  a  political  engine, 
to  cet  rid  of  some  influential  but  troublesome  indi- 
vidual;  for  when  once  a  person  has  been  legally 
charged  with  this  crime,  it  matters  not  how  popular 
or  respected  he  may  have  been  before,  he  is  at  once 
avoided  as  the  most  noxious  of  human  beings. 

"  The  chiefs,  therefore,  find  this  a  very  convenient 
and  powerful  state  engine  to  support  their  power, 
and  enable  them  to  remove  individuals  whom  they 
would  otherwise  find  great  difficulty  in  getting 
rid  of. 

"  After  a  person  charged  with  witchcraft  has  satis- 
fied all  legal  demands,  and  is  set  at  liberty,  he  has 
the  right  of  applying  to  a  priest,  who  offers  a  sacrifice 
for  him,  and  performs  some  other  rites ;  after  which 
he  is  pronounced  clean,  and  again  becomes  as  honour- 
able a  member  of  society  as  though  he  had  never 
been  punished  for  witchcraft.  There  is  not  the 
slightest  doubt  that  the  Kaffirs  do  frequently 
attempt  to  bewitch  each  other,  and  for  which  pur- 
pose they  practice  a  great  number  of  villanoua 
tricks. 

"  They  have  also  the  knowledge  of  several  vegetable 
poisons,  and  of  which  they  make  a  very  free  use  in 
getting  rid  of  those  they  dislike  ;  and,  as  poisoning 
is  included  by  them  under  the  head  of  witchcraft, 


330  MORLEY. — INCANASEUE, 

there  is  no  wonder  at  their  superstitious  fears  having 
invented  some  kind  of  scheme  to  detect  and  punish 
individuals  whom  they  believe  to  be  guilty  of  these 
crimes." 

As  many  as  eight  cases  of  smelling  out  and  mur- 
der had  occurred  during  the  space  of  a  year  just 
preceding  the  time  of  our  visit,  the  details  of  which, 
too  numerous  for  my  space,  were  given  me  by  the 
missionary.  A  horrible  case  occurred  near  the  sta- 
tion in  1864.  The  "  lung-sickness"  happened  among 
the  cattle  of  a  native  near  Morley,  who  immediately 
employed  a  doctor  to  "  smell  out "  the  man  who  had 
bewitched  them.  The  usual  ceremony  of  "  smelling 
out"  resulted  in  the  conviction  of  the  man's  own. 
nephew.  He  was  at  once  seized  and  tied  to  a  post 
near  his  own  hut,  when  a  large  fire  was  made  in 
front  of  him,  by  which  he  was  slowly  roasted.  After 
enduring  those  excruciating  tortures  for  twenty-four 
hours,  he  was  induced  to  confess  his  guilt.  He  told 
them  if  they  would  take  him  to  the  brook  he  would 
show  them  the  poison  by  which  he  had  bewitched 
the  cattle.  The  poor  fellow  was  made  to  go  to  the 
water.  When  dragged  to  the  place  he  pointed  out 
the  "  ubuti,"  a  little  root  in  the  edge  of  the  water, 
winch  caused  the  death  of  the  cattle.  Then  the 
doctor  jumped  round  and  shouted  glory  to  himself. 
The  power  to  "  smell  out  the  witches,"  and  the 
righteousness  of  his  decision,  were  demonstrated 
before  all  the  people.  Then  his  poor  victim  was 
dragged  back  and  tied  to  the  same  post,  and  the 


ROASTED    FOR   THIRTY-SIX    HOURS.  331 

fires  were  rekindled,  and  while  he  for  twelve  hours 
more  yelled  in  agony,  his  friends  and  relations  were 
smoking  their  pipes,  and  taking  their  pleasure.  The 
tortures  of  that  poor  fellow  commenced  at  noon,  and 
terminated  in  death  at  the  middle  of  the  second  night. 
No  doubt  the  relations  of  such  victims  manifest  their 
indifference,  and  often  their  zeal  in  the  execution,  to 
avoid  suspicion  of  complicity  with  the  witch.  The 
father  of  the  poor  man  fled  to  the  mission-station  for 
refuge,  and  Brother  Rayner  asked  him  if  he  really 
believed  that  his  son  had  bewitched  his  brother's 
cattle?  "0,  yes,"  he  replied,  tfI  believe  he  was 
guilty,  because  the  doctor  said  so." 

A  heathen  man's  wife,  near  the  station,  was  sus- 
pected of  witchcraft.  After  being  duly  "  smelled 
out,"  the  penalty  doomed  her  to  be  eaten  alive  by 
the  ants.  Her  own  brothers  took  her  out,  according 
to  the  judgment  of  the  doctor,  and  driving  down  four 
stakes,  stretched  her  out  by  an  rnt-hill,  and  lashed 
her  wrists  and  ankles  to  the  stakes  to  be  devoured  by 
the  voracious  insects. 

The  ants  preyed  upon  the  poor  woman  all  that 
day,  but  her  "  sucking  child,"  cried  so  for  its  mother 
that,  I  suppose  as  a  matter  of  economy,  they  went 
out  and  untied  the  mother,  who  came  home  and 
took  care  of  her  child  for  the  night.  In  the  morning 
she  was  staked  down  among  the  ants  as  before,  and 
at  night  was  released  again. 

Such  torture  will  ordinarily  terminate  life  in  a 
couple  of  days,  but  the  respite  of  each  alternate  night 


332  MOItLEY. — INCANASETTE. 

prolonged  this  woman's  agony,  and  after  enduring 
this  for  six  days,  her  tormentors  said,  "  We  can't 
kill  such  a  witch.  She  won't  die,"  so  they  loosed  her, 
and  "threw  her  away,"  which,  with  the  Kaffirs, 
means  such  an  "  anathema  maranafha,"  that  their  faces 
must  never  be  seen  by  any  of  their  people  again.  In 
that  dreadful  condition  she  came  to  the  "  station." 
Brother  Rayner  told  us  that  such  a  sight  he  never 
saw  before.  The  surface  of  her  whole  body  was 
lacerated  and  swollen  ;  but  her  wrists  and  ankles 
were  eaten  down  between  the  tendons,  in  some  places 
to  the  bone.  Her  struggles  caused  the  straps,  by 
which  she  was  bound,  to  chafe  her  wrists  and  ankles, 
and  render  them  specially  attractive  to  the  little 
tormentors  that  were  feasting  on  her.  By  very 
special  care,  Brother  Rayner  and  his  kind-hearted 
wife  succeeded,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  in  restoring  her. 

That  very  woman  was  converted  to  God  during 
our  series  of  services  at  Morley,  and  still  lives  at  the 
station,  a  free  woman  in  Christ. 

Brother  Rayner  was  at  Clarkebury  from  Monday 
to  Friday  of  our  services  there,  and  did  us  good  ser- 
vice. On  Saturday  he  conducted  us  to  his  house  at 
Morley.  Rev.  Brother  Hargraves  and  Brother 
William  Davis  accompanied  us  a  few  miles,  and 
saw  us  safely  over  a  dangerous  "  drift "  of  the 
Bashee,  and  bade  farewell.  After  a  rough  journey  of 
thirty-six  miles,  we  reached  the  station  a  little  after 
dark.  We  "  out-spanned  "  by  the  way  at  a  trader's 
station,  and  were  kindly  provided  with  refreshment 


INCIDENTS    OF   FIRST    SPECIAL   SERVICE.  333 

by  a  widow,  whose  husband  had  died  but  a  few 
weeks  before.  Brother  Rayner  visited  him  a  short 
time  before  his  death,  and  learned  from  him  that  he 
attended  my  series  of  services  at  King  William's 
Town,  and  was  greatly  awakened  by  the  Spirit ;  and 
though  he  did  not  go  forward  avowedly  as  a  seeker, 
he  did  seek  the  Lord,  and  Brother  Rayner  had  hope 
in  his  death.  The  widow  was  settling  up  his  business, 
and  preparing  to  leave  such  horrible  associations. 

On  Sabbath  morning,  the  5th  of  August,  I  took 
a  survey  of  the  land  to  find  a  suitable  place 
for  out-door  preaching.  To  the  west  of  the 
house  we  found  a  beautiful  grassy  spot,  but  it  was 
not  sufficiently  protected  from  an  easterly  breeze, 
which  was  prevailing,  and,  moreover,  it  was  on 
the  edge  of  a  precipice  which  overhung  the  river, 
which  curved  round  its  base  nearly  200  feet  be- 
low, and  we  feared  that,  in  a  great  crowd,  some  care- 
less one  might  tumble  over  before  they  were  ready. 
We  finally  selected  a  small  level  plot  of  ground,  by 
a  little  stream,  at  the  foot  of  the  high  hill  east  of 
the  chapel.  In  turning  up  a  large  flat  stone  for  my 
pulpit,  I  tore  my  coat.  I  got  a  few  heathen  Kaffirs 
then  to  help  me,  and  prepared  a  good  stone  pulpit 
each  for  Charles  and  myself.  I  then  slipped  down 
the  deep  ravine,  and  prepared  for  the  public  service 
by  doing  a  small  job  of  tailoring,  which  closed  the 
rent  in  my  coat,  which  I  thought  might  be  damaging 
to  my  usefulness,  and  hence  made  a  necessity  of  it. 
When  I    got  my  coat  mended    I  buckled  on  the 


834  MORLEY. INCANASEUE. 

"  armour  of  God,"  and  returned  to  the  field  of  action. 
Brother  Roberts,  Stuart,  and  Brother  and  Sister 
llayner,  were  the  only  white  hearers  we  had.  There 
were  probably  three  hundred  persons  of  all  ages  in 
some  way  connected  with  the  station  there,  and  the 
village  out-station,  five  miles  distant,  whose  people, 
with  their  faithful  head  man,  and  Local  Preacher, 
came  in  force  ;  besides  these  we  had  nearly  one  hun- 
dred wild  heathens.  We  stood  on  the  precipitous 
bank  of  the  stream,  and  cried  "  The  Spirit  and  the 
bride  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  heareth  say, 
Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come.  And  who- 
soever will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely/' 
We  stated  the  first  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ, 
and  illustrated  them  by  the  realities  of  Kaffir  life,  in  a 
thorough,  but  simple  way,  adapted  to  the  capacity  of 
heathen  minds.  The  preaching  occupied  about  an 
hour  and  a-half.  There  was  marked  attention,  and 
evidently  a  mighty  moving  of  the  Spirit  of  awaken- 
ing during  the  preaching;  but,  as  usual,  all  were 
quiet.  Having  shown  them  that  they  were  famish- 
ing in  the  dry  desert  of  heathenism,  and  that  God's 
provision  of  salvation  for  them  was  like  a  river  flow- 
ing freely  for  all,  we  invited  them  to  "  come  and 
take  freely"  by  accepting  Christ.  About  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  stood  up  to  indicate  their  determina- 
tion to  "  come"  at  once.  They  then  "fell  down  on 
their  faces,  and  worshipped  God,"  and  many  of  them 
that  day  drank  freety,  and  were  saved.  That  night 
we  preached  in  the  chapel,  and  had  a  glorious  wori* 


THE    CHIEF   NDUNYELA.  3'* 5 

of  the  Spirit.  On  Monday  Charles  preached  in  the 
chapel.  He  preached  once  at  Butterworth,  and  once 
at  Clarkebury,  to  the  great  astonishment  of  the  mis- 
sionaries. 

On  Monday  night  we  preached  again,  and  a  great 
work  was  done.  On  Tuesday  we  preached  again  by 
the  brook.  On  that  occasion  we  had  the  chief  of 
that  part  of  Ngangelizwe's  dominions,  Ndunyela, 
twenty-four  wives  and  women  of  his  court,  and  aboui 
one  hundred  and  twenty  of  his  warriors.  In  each 
place  we  had  visited  comparatively  few  heathen 
came  to  our  services,  and  the  few  who  came  did  not 
put  in  an  appearance — as  in  the  case  of  ISTgangclizwe's 
party — till  near  the  time  of  our  departure,  when  our 
limited  time  did  not  allow  us  to  pursue  and  take  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  so  this  influential  band  of 
heathen  did  not  come,  though  specially  invited  by 
the  missionary,  till  the  last  day.  Kdunyela  is  a 
broad,  thick-set  man,  of  about  forty  years,  fine  open 
face,  not  black,  but  a  reddish  bronze.  Some  of  his 
copper-coloured  ladies  had  a  fine  Jewish  physiog- 
nomy, and  all  were  well  attired  in  native  costume. 
His  warriors  were  naked,  except  a  blanket  or  kaross 
thrown  loosely  round  their  shoulders.  Brother 
Rayner  made  them  a  present  of  "  a  cake  of  bread," 
viz.,  a  bullock,  which  they  slaughtered  and  devoured 
in  the  afternoon.  They  are  very  expert  in  butchering 
&  beef  with  their  assegais,  and  in  cutting  out  all  the 
ficshy  parts  into  strips,  these  they  broil  on  the  fire 
till  about  half  done,  and  the  smoking  strips  of  rare 


336  MORLEY. — INCANASEUE. 

roast  are  passed  among  the  long  circle.  One  fellow 
seizes  it,  and  clenches  one  end  of  it  with  his  teeth, 
and  with  his  assegai  cuts  it  off  an  inch  or  two  from 
his  mouth,  just  as  much  as  he  can  get  between  his 
teeth,  and  passes  it  to  the  next,  who  follows  his 
example.  So  on  it  goes  round,  strip  after  strip,  a 
mouthful  at  a  time,  till  nothing  is  left  but  the  skin 
and  bones  of  the  beast.  Every  man  has  a  right  to 
a  seat  at  such  a  feast.  Whenever  any  Kaffir  kills  a 
beef,  all  the  men  within  several  miles  round  will 
assemble  as  promptly  as  birds  of  pre}*,  and  any  one 
of  them  will  eat  as  much  as  the  owner.  If  a  man 
should  refuse  to  make  it  a  free  thing,  he  would  be 
branded  as  a  man  too  stingy  and  mean  to  live  among 
them,  and  would  be  in  danger  of  being  "  smelled 
out  "  as  a  witch.  It  is  not  easy  for  such  people  to 
appreciate  English  economy.  To  see  a  missionary 
kill  a  beef,  and  carefully  cut  it  up  and  carry  it  into 
his  house,  and  keep  it  to  be  eaten  by  himself  and  his 
own  family,  along  at  different  times  as  may  suit  hia 
convenience,  why,  to  a  lot  of  hungry  Kaffirs  it  is 
the  most  shocking  piece  of  business  imaginable  ! 
Hence,  if  they  want  to  berate  a  mean  fellow,  after 
exhausting  their  old  stock  of  opprobrious  epithets, 
they  cap  the  whole  by  adding,  "  Why  you  are  as 
stingy  as  a  missionary."  Brother  Rayner  gave  the 
chief  Ndunyela  his  choice,  to  take  his  people  home 
in  the  afternoon,  after  they  had  eaten  their  "  cake 
of  bread,"  or  to  stay  for  the  evening  service.  We 
were  anxious  for  them  to  stay,  but  wished  them  t* 


ngangelizwe's  league  again.  337 

act  with  entire  freedom  of  will.  lie  sent  his  women 
home,  but  he  and  all  his  men  remained.  They  occu- 
pied the  front  seats  in  the  chapel,,  we  gave  them  the 
Gospel  message  in  all  plainness,  and  they  seemed 
deeply  impressed  but  did  not  yield. 

During  the  prayer-meeting  Charles  had  a  close 
talk  with  the  chief.  He  admitted  that  what  he  had 
heard  during  that  day  and  evening  had  convinced 
him  that  he  was  a  poor  sinner,  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  the  only  Saviour  of  sinners,  and  that  he  and  his 
people  ought  to  "  receive "  Him,  and  when  Charles 
urged  him  to  surrender  to  God  and  accept  Christ,  he 
replied,  "I  made  Ngangelizwe  promise  that  he  would 
not  be  a  Christian,  and  I  am  in  honour  bound  to 
stand  by  our  old  customs,  having  compelled  him  to 
do  so."  After  the  prayer-meeting  we  had  a  fellow- 
ship-meeting, and  those  heathen  heard  the  distinct 
testimony  of  more  than  thirty  witnesses  to  the  sav- 
ing power  of  Jesus  in  their  own  hearts.  On  Wed- 
nesday morning  we  set  out  for  Buntingville.  The 
following  extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Rayner,  and  published  in  the  December  number  of 
the  Wcskyan  Missionary  Notices,  will  furnish  illus- 
trative facts  of  the  work  of  God  in  Morley. 

That  Sabbath  was  a  lovely  day ;  the  sun  shone  with  thb 
genial  warmth  of  approaching  spring ;  and  the  chapel  being 
too  small  to  hold  the  congregation,  we  found  a  sheltered 
place  by  the  river-side,  and  assembled  the  people  there 
for  the  morning's  service.  I  had  long  been  conscious  of  a 
deepening  work  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  felt 

z 


3,38  MOELEY. 

fully  certain  that  Mr.  Taylor  would  find  them  prepared  to 
receive  the  word  in  all  sincerity.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
service  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  with  overwhelming  power 
upon  the  congregation  ;  and  when  the  preacher  called  upon 
all  those  to  stand  up  who  were  willing  to  come  to  Christ, 
nearly  the  whole  congregation  rose  in  amass,  and  then  with 
a  "great  cry"  prostrated  themselves  before  the  Lord.  It 
was  a  scene  for  angels  to  rejoice  over.  My  feeling  was  one 
of  inexpressible  thankfulness  ;  fur  I  saw  the  fruits  of  nearly 
four  years'  sowing  gathered  at  a  stroke.  Mr.  Taylor  stayed 
three  days,  and  then  passed  on  to  Buntingville. 

Soon  after  his  departure  I  called  a  meeting  of  all  the 
believers  in  the  Circuit  to  form  them  into  Classes,  etc. ;  and 
upon  counting  them  I  found  to  my  great  surprise,  that  we 
had  no  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  present ;  and  as  the 
number  of  members  before  was  a  little  below  one  hundred, 
there  must  have  been,  during  those  three  days,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  conversions.  There  and  then  these  were  formed 
into  sixteen  classes  When  this  was  done,  which  was 
rather  a  tedious  performance,  I  told  each  leader  to  meet 
his  Class,  as  they  sat  in  the  different  parts  of  the  chapel, 
and  inquire  particularly  into  the  state  of  each  soul.  They 
all  commenced  immediately,  and  after  the  hum  of  voices 
had  died  away,  the  leaders  simultaneously  rose,  and  an- 
nounced the  glorious  fact,  that  with  only  two  exceptions,  the 
whole  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  had  a  sense  of  sins  for- 
given, and  enjoyed  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  that  they  were 
the  children  of  God.  You  can  understand  the  joy  with 
which  that  announcement  was  received. 

Six  weeks  have  passed  since  then,  and  all  these  are 
walking  consistently,  and  most  of  them  are  growing  in 
grace. 

We  now  present  the  unwonted  spectacle  of  two  native 
villages  in  the  very  heart  of  heathendom,  where  more  than 


A   WOMAN   EATEN    BY   ANTS.  339 

half  of  the  entire  population — I  speak  this  advisedly — are 
converted  to  God,  and  living  holy  lives.  Perhaps  you  would 
scarcely  find  a  parallel  even  in  England. 

Of  course  all  our  efforts  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
heathen  will  be  prosecuted  with  renewed  vigour.  And,  no 
doubt,  amongst  the  young  converts  will  appear  some  upon 
whom  the  Lord  lias  laid  His  hand,  for  the  future  conversion 
of  those  who  are  still  sitting  in  darkness. 

We  feel  the  increased  responsibility  laid  upon  us  ;  but 
we  are  "workers  together  with  God,"  an  J  are  resolved  by 
His  gracious  aid  to  endeavour  to  lead  these  people  on  to 
holiness  of  heart  and  life,  to  build  them  up  in  the  most  holy 
faith  until  we  can  present  every  man  perfect  in  Christ 
Jesus. 

But  while  we  had  a  good  report  of  the  great 
work  of  God,  the  work  of  Satan  among  the  heathen 
continued  as  before,  for  owing  to  the  wicked  league 
of  the  nation  and  chief  against  Christ,  but  very  few 
of  the  Tarnbookie  heathen  have  been  saved. 

A  horrible  case  of  "  smelling  out "  occurred  at 
Morley,  a  short  time  after  we  left,  which  is  described 
by  Eev.  Brother  Rayner,  in  a  letter,  as  follows  : — 

A  few  days  after  your  departure,  a  man  came  running  to 
me,  saying  that  a  woman  had  just  fallen  over  the  cliffs,  and 
was  lying  at  the  bottom  beside  the  river,  dead.  Thinking 
that  perhaps  she  was  only  dead  in  a  Kaffir  sense,  I  gathered 
some  men  together  and  went  down,  hoping  to  be  able 
to  save  her  life.  On  arriving  under  the  rocks  by  the 
river,  I  found  that  three  heathen  women  from  one  of  those 
kraals,  which  you  saw  on  the  other  side,  had  gone  down 
to  gather  firewood,  one  of  them  was   standing  between 


340  MORLEY. 

two  large  stones  chopping  a  small  tree,  when  the  nbra- 
tions  of  the  ground  caused  the  upper  stone,  several  tons  in 
weight,  to  lose  its  balance  and  topple  over.  This  caught 
the  poor  woman  against  the  rock  in  front,  and  literally  cut 
her  in  two,  just  across  the  loins.  It  was  a  horrible  sight. 
The  men  of  the  kraal  said  she  had  buried  herself,  and  had 
just  sent  the  other  women  to  pile  a  tew  stones  over  the 
body  as  it  lay.  The  people  said  to  me,  "  You  will  see  that 
this  is  a  case  for  the  witch  doctors."  About  a  month 
after,  a  man  came  and  told  me  that  a  woman  was  being 
tortured  for  this  down  by  the  river.  I  immediately  sent 
down  some  Leaders  to  see  what  they  were  doing.  They 
found  that  the  doctor  had  said,  "  a  certain  woman  of  the 
same  kraal  of  the  deceased  woman  had  brought  a  star  from 
heaven,  which  caused  the  great  rock  to  roll  over  and  kill 
the  woman.  They  had  taken  this  woman,  after  she  had  been 
"  smelled  out "  by  the  doctor,  and,  after  a  variety  of  tortures, 
they  had  driven  four  stakes  into  the  ground,  and  throwing 
the  poor  victim  on  her  back,  had  drawn  her  arms  and  legs 
to  their  utmost  tension,  and  tied  them  to  the  stakes.  One 
man  stood  by  with  a  great  nest  of  black  ants,  and  another 
with  a  bucket  of  water  Occasionally  one  would  throw 
some  water  on  her  body  to  cause  the  ants  to  take  hold 
readily,  and  the  other  would  shake  on  a  lot  of  ants.  The 
woman  was  wailing  in  agony,  and  the  men  were  dancing 
round  her.  My  men  tried  every  means  to  set  her  at  liberty 
until  they  were  driven  away  at  the  point  of  their  assegais. 
On  retiring  that  night  I  looked  out  at  the  bed-room 
windows  and  saw  a  great  fire  on  that  kraal,  and  the  next 
morning  we  were  told  that  it  was  the  burning  of  the  poor 
woman's  hut,  and  that  the  woman  had  been  sent  home  to 
her  friends,  but  I  think  it  more  likely  that  she  and  her 
house  perished  together.  This  horrible  deed  appeared  all 
the  blacker  from  the  flood  of  light  which  had  just  been 


EFFECTS  OF   REFUSING  TO  WALK   IN   RELIGION.     341 

poured  into  the  minds  of  the  people.  We  had  often 
preached  the  Gospel  to  these  very  people,  and  most  likely 
some  of  those  very  men  who  did  that  horrid  deed  heard 
you  preach  that  morning  when  we  gathered  the  outside 
people  *o  bear  you. 


CHAPTER  XXT. 

BUNTIXGVILLE — ICUMI«, 

This  mission,  named  in  honour  of  that  renowned 
patron  of  missions.  Rev.  Dr.  Bunting,  was  established 
in  the  year  1830,  by  Rev.  Win.  B.  Boyce,  so  well 
known  as  a  missionary  in  Africa,  general  superinten- 
dent in  Australia,  and  now  as  secretary  of  the 
Wesleyan  Missionary  Society  in  London. 

The  Buntingville  Mission  was  the  first  introduction 
of  the  Gospel  to  the  Amapondo  nation.  The  time  to 
commence  such  a  work  was  providentially  opportune, 
for  the  whole  nation  were  sitting  in  the  ashes  of  their 
former  wealth,  greatly  humbled.  The  Amazulu  had 
just  swept  over  their  country,  burnt  their  villages, 
destroyed  their  cattle,  and  had  even  eaten  up  nearly 
all  their  dogs.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  invading 
savages  preferred  dog-meat  to  good  beef,  but  the 
priest  who,  according  to  their  custom,  prepared  th^m 
for  war,  no  doubt  commanded  them  to  eat  the  dogs 
of  the  Pondos,  and  hence,  when  asked  why  they  did 
so,  replied,  "  We  eat  the  dogs  to  make  us  more  fierce 
and  powerful  in  battle." 


rev.  war.  b.  boyce.  343 

It  was  here  that  Rev.  Mr.  Boyce  devoted  himself 
60  assiduously  and  so  successfully  to  the  philosophy 
of  the  Kaffir  language,  and  discovered  an  essential 
key  to  it,  which  he  called  the  "  euphonic  concord  " 
of  the  language.  He  had  the  assistance  of  Theo- 
philus,  son  of  the  old  missionary,  Rev.  Wm.  Shep- 
stone,  in  this  important  work  which  furnished  the 
basis  of  the  subsequent  grammars  of  the  Kaffir 
language  which  have  been  produced. 

The  first  site  of  this  station  was  so  dry  and  un- 
suitable for  the  cultivation  of  gardens,  that  after  a 
few  years  it  was  removed  to  a  more  eligible  spot. 
Faku,  the  great  chief  of  the  Amapondo  nation, 
afterwards  admitted  that  he  selected  the  first  site  on 
very  dry  ground,  so  that  the  missionary  would  be 
obliged  to  pray  for  rain  for  his  own  garden,  and 
thus  the  whole  district  would  be  watered. 

It  has  been  recently  removed  to  a  site  twelve 
miles  westward,  on  the  banks  of  the  Umtata  River, 
and  belongs  to  Damasi's  division  of  the  Amapondo 
nation,  comprising  about  one-third  of  the  whole 
population ;  the  other  two-thirds  are  under  the  rule 
of  old  Faku,  his  father. 

This  mission  has  been  under  the  fostering  care, 
first  of  Rev.  "Wm.  B.  Boyce,  Mr.  Fainton,  a  cate- 
rhist,  Rev.  Mr.  Satchell,  Rev.  James  Cameron,  now 
chairman  of  Natal  District,  then  Mr.  Boyce  again, 
followed  by  Rev.  Thomas  Jenkins,  who  became  the 
permanent  missionary  of  that  nation. 


844  BUNTINGVILLE — ICUME. 

The  Buntingville  Station,  though  the  mother  <>£ 
several  other  important  stations,  has  been  suffering 
a  decline,  so  that  it  is  now  the  feeblest  mission  in 
Kaffraria.  It  is  now,  however,  under  the  care  of 
Rev.  Vm.  Hunter,  giving  indications  of  new  life  and 
promise  of  great  effectiveness  in  the  future. 

On  Wednesday  morning,  the  8lh  of  August,  we 
left  Morley  for  Buntingville  Station,  distant  thirty- 
six  miles.  Rev.  Wm.  Hunter  had  been  assisting  us 
at  Morley  a  couple  of  days,  and  was  now  ready 
to  pilot  us  to  his  station.  The  bridle-path  was  five 
or  six  miles  shorter  than  the  wagon-road,  and  there 
was  nothing  to  prevent  us  from  driving  our  cart  the 
short  route,  but  an  impassable  drift  at  the  Umtata 
River.  However,  a  native  man  of  some  importance 
in  that  country,  living  near  the  said  drift,  who 
professed  to  have  received  good  at  our  services, 
informed  us  that  he  had  made  a  road  out  from  the 
drift,  and  had  also  opened  a  road  across  the  near 
way  for  wagons,  so  we  were  induced  to  take 
Dahveed's  "  new  road,"  and  accept  his  kind  offer  to 
pilot  us  through.  Brother  Hunter,  Charles,  and 
Stuart,  took  a  still  more  direct  path,  and  Brother 
Roberts,  myself,  and  our  guide,  took  the  "  new  road," 
which  we  found  was  no  road  at  all,  and  it  was  a 
marvellous  thing  that  we  got  through.  When  we 
were  descending  the  last  mountain  towards  the 
Umtata  drift,  brother  Roberts  was  almost  out  of 
patience,  affirming  that  we  had  been  humbugged,  at 
the  peril  of  limb  and  life,  in  taking  that  route,  in- 


DAHVEED's    "  NEW   ROAD."  345 

stead  of  the  main  road  ;  but  our  guide  was  so  kind 
and  hopeful,  that  I  begged  Roberts  not  to  hint  his 
disappointment  to  Dahveed,  but  let  him  enjoy  the 
satisfaction  of  doing  us  a  great  favour,  as  he  evi- 
dently designed.  As  we  were  getting  over  the  most 
dangerous  part,  near  the  river,  Dahveed  said,  with 
an  indescribable  air  of  self-satisfaction,  "  This  is  my 
road."  A  field-officer,  after  a  great  victory,  could 
not  have  manifested  greater  self- congratulation 
than  did  this  native  in  getting  us  over  his  own 
road.  Every  reference  to  that  trip  afterwards  threw 
Roberts  into  a  spell  of  laughing,  with  a  repetition  of 
Dahveed's  saying,  "This  is  my  road."  When  we 
drove  into  the  "  drift/'  one  of  the  horses,  in  drinking, 
drew  a  buckle  of  the  check-rain  through  a  ring  on 
the  harness  saddle,  which  we  did  not  observe  at  the 
moment,  but  when  Brother  Roberts  attempted  to 
drive  on,  one  line  being  fast,  the  other  drew  in  the 
right  wheel-horse,  and  the  left  being  unrestrained, 
ran  round  the  other,  which  turned  their  heads  directly 
down  the  stream.  Just  before  them  was  a  ledge  of 
rocks  and  deep  water.  Dahveed  had  dismounted  to 
get  a  drink,  and  not  knowing  that  we  had  no  com- 
mand of  the  team,  was  shouting  at  the  top  of  his 
voice,  "Pezulu!  pezulu !  pezulu!"  He  did  not 
think  of  rushing  to  the  rescue,  but  simply  of  giving 
the  word  of  command  to  go  above,  so  I  stepped  down 
into  the  river  and  released  the  lines,  and  we  gorj 
through  all  right,  and  without  much  difficulty  got 
up  the  steep  bank,  on  Dahveed's  new-cut  road.     He 


oio  BUNTINGVILLE — ICUME. 

had  done  some  digging  there,  let  it  be  said  to  his 
credit,  which  rendered  the  ascent  from  the  river 
possible.  We  reached  Buntingville  a  little  after 
dark,  and  found  comfortable  quarters  in  the  new 
mission-house,  but  recently  built  by  Brother  Hunter, 
who,  with  his  young  and  interesting  wife,  did  every- 
thing necessary  to  make  our  brief  sojourn  agreeable. 
This  new  site  for  Buntingville  Station  is  well  selected 
on  an  elevation  near  the  beautiful  Umtata. 

This  mission,  as  has  been  intimated,  belongs  to 
Damasi,  son  of  the  great  Chief  Faku,  who,  though 
legally  the  king  of  the  whole  Amapondo  nation,  has 
for  many  years  allowed  Damasi  the  sovereign  rule 
of  all  the  Pondos  west  of  the  Umzimvubu  river,  and 
the  two  Governments  are  so  distinct,  that  each  can 
make  war  or  peace  with  other  tribes  without  in- 
volving each  other.  For  example,  when  we  were 
there,  Damasi  was  at  war  with  Umhlonhlo,  chief  of 
the  Amapondumsi,  but  Faku's  people  were  not ;  at 
the  same  time  Faku  was  at  war  with  the  Amabaca 
tribe,  but  Damasi  was  not ;  so  that  Damasi,  though 
not  strictly  in  law,  is  in  fact,  a  great  paramount 
chief.  It  is  difficult  to  get  anything  like  a  reliable 
census  in  Kaffraria.  We  were  told,  on  what  seemed 
good  authority,  that  Damasi  had  50,000  warriors 
under  his  command ;  but  we  learned  from  Rev.  Mr. 
Jenkins,  who  has  been  among  the  Amapondo  for  over 
thirty  years,  that  the  entire  population  under  Damasi 
is  about  50,000,  and  that  under  Faku  about  100,000. 
Damasi  has  furnished  most  of  the  funds,  by  the  sale 


AXiPONDO. 


CHIEF   VAVA   AND    HIS   WARItlOKS.  347 

of  cattle,  for  the  erection  of  the  new  mission-house 
at  Buntingville,  and  will  pay  a  large  proportion  01 
the  funds  necessary  for  the  erection  of  the  new 
chapel  they  are  preparing  to  build.  There  are  but 
few  families  of  natives  resident  on  this  new  station 
as  yet.  There  is  still  a  society  at  old  Buntingville, 
but  at  this  new  field  they  had  only  about  twenty 
members,  and  Brother  Hunter  thought  the  most  of 
them  lacked  the  converting  grace  of  God.  He,  how- 
ever, had  two  or  three  really  spiritual,  and  working 
members.  Brother  Hunter  had  hoped  that  we  would 
spend  a  week  with  him,  commencing  our  series  on 
the  Sabbath.  I  felt  great  sympathy  with  him  in  his 
isolated,  difficult  work,  and  great  sorrow  that  my  time 
was  so  limited,  that  we  could  remain  there  but  two 
days.  He  sent  out  word  among  the  heathen  that 
Isikunisivutayo  had  come,  and  invited  them  to  attend 
our  services;  but  unfortunately  "Vava,"  the  nephew 
of  Damasi,  and  chief  of  that  district,  had  made  a  great 
marriage-feast  for  one  of  his  relatives  to  come  off  on 
Thursday,  the  first  day  of  our  series,  and  therefore 
"  they  could  not  come,"  and  prayed  to  be  "  excused." 
However,  we  got  together  a  congregation  of  about 
one  hundred,  to  whom  we  preached  twice  in  the  open- 
air,  and  nine  of  them  professed  to  find  peace  with  God. 
On  Friday  the  Chief  Vava,  his  son,  and  about 
sixty  of  his  counsellors  and  warriors,  many  of 
them  with  shields  and  assegais  in  hand,  came, 
which  added  bulk  and  interest  to  our  audience. 
Just  from  a  marriage-feast,  at  which  they  had  de- 


548  BUNTINGVILLE — ICTJME. 

voured  a  bullock  or  two,  and  swallowed  streams  of 
Kaffir  beer,  and  now  suffering  a  recovery,  tbey  were 
not  in  the  best  state  of  mind  to  receive  the  Gospel, 
but  we  remembered  the  saying  of  God,  "  Is  not  my 
word  like  as  a  fire  ;  and  like  a  hammer  that  breaketh 
the  rock  in  pieces  ?" 

By  earnest,  united  prayer,  we  kept  the  Divine  fire 
burning,  and  dealt  heavy  strokes  with  the  hammer 
of  truth  upon  the  flint  rock  of  their  heathenish 
hearts.  At  first  every  stroke  seemed  to  rebound 
without  effect,  except  on  our  hearers  of  the  previous 
day  ;  but  during  the  second  service,  by  the  action  of 
the  fire  under  the  awakening  Spirit,  and  the  sledge- 
hammer of  the  Gospel,  we  made  a  break  among  the 
heathen ;  the  chief,  Yava,  his  son,  and  seven  of  his 
counsellors  and  warriors,  went  down  on  their  knees 
as  seekers,  and  most  of  them  professed  to  have  ac- 
cepted Christ,  and  received  the  pardon  of  their  sins. 
Vava  seemed  thoroughly  in  earnest,  but  though  he 
professed  to  have  found  the  Lord,  we  did  not  number 
him  among  the  converts,  till  we  should  see  the  proof 
of  it  in  putting  away  his  plurality  of  wives.  I  am 
sorry  not  to  be  able  to  give  definite  information  as 
to  his  subsequent  life.  Brother  Hunter  gave  Yava 
a  cake  of  bread  (a  bullock),  according  to  custom,  for 
their  evening  repast,  and  while  the  chief  was  in  a 
hut,  talking  about  the  great  salvation,  his  warriors 
devoured  the  beef,  and  poor  Yava  did  not  get  enough 
to  stay  his  royal  appetite. 

Yava  asked  Stuart  if  we  were  not  going  to  the 


CHIEF    DAMASI. 


349 


"  Great  Place  *  to  see  Damasi  ?  "When  lie  learned  that 
we  designed  to  go  next  day  to  Shawbury  to  spend 
the  Sabbath,  he  said  Damasi  would  be  very  angry  if 
we  did  not  go  to  see  him ;  so  he  made  an  earnest 
appeal  to  us  to  go  next  day  to  Damasi's  Great  Place, 
distant  nearly  thirty  miles,  Brother  Hunter  sup- 
ported it,  and  thought  we  might  have  a  thousand 
heathen  there  to  preach  to.  In  consideration  of 
this,  together  with  the  fact  that  Shawbury,  the 
next  station  on  our  plan,  belonged  to  Umhlonhlo, 
with  whom  Damasi  was  then  at  war,  and  the  fear 
that  if  we  should  appear  to  slight  Damasi,  and  give 
attention  to  his  enemy,  we  might  increase  the  already 
very  terrible  war- complications  of  the  Shawbury 
Station,  which  we  wished  not  to  injure,  but  to  benefit, 
we  changed  our  plan,  and  consented  to  spend  the 
Sabbath,  August  12th,  at  Damasi's  Great  Place.  On 
Saturday  morning  we  bade  adieu  to  Buntingville. 
Brother  Hunter,  Charles,  Stuart,  and  Dahveed,  went 
a  nearer  way  on  horseback  ;  Yava,  and  a  few  of  his 
men  went  on  foot,  while  Brother  Roberts  and  I, 
guided  by  a  Mr.  Morrison,  a  trader  on  the  TJmtata, 
who  with  his  wife  professed  to  find  peace  with  God 
at  our  meeting  the  day  before,  took  what  was  called 
"  the  road." 

Much  of  the  country  through  which  we  passed  was 
very  beautiful,  with  tall  grass,  and  dense  groves  of 
timber  on  the  eastern  lee  of  the  mountains  and  in  deep 
gorges,  where  they  were  protected  from  the  west- 
er] v  winds.     We  saw  a  number  of  fine  herds  of  rhei- 


350  BUNTING  VILLE — ICUME. 

bucks  that  day,  and  where  we  "  out-spanned,"  while 
Mr.  Morrison  was  preparing  our  lunch,  I  tried  in  vain 
to  get  near  enough  to  some  of  them  for  a  successful 
shot.  They  are  hunted  a  great  deal  by  the  natives 
with  their  dogs,  and  are  hence  very  wild. 

We  reached  the  Great  Place  about  four  p.m. 
Our  horsemen  had  been  there  sometime  before  us, 
and  had  a  hut  arranged  for  our  accommodation. 
Brother  Hunter  introduced  me  to  Damasi,  as 
Isikunisivutayo,  a  new  Umfandisi  from  the  other 
side  of  the  great  waters.  The  chief  is  over  six  feet 
in  height,  large,  and  corpulent,  of  a  copper  com- 
plexion, a  generous  open  countenance,  and  altogether 
a  fine  specimen  of  a  heathen  chief.  lie  took  us  into 
his  palace,  which  is  a  round  hut  about  thirty  feet 
in  diameter,  the  wall  about  six  feet  high  made  of 
clay,  with  a  round  roof  of  thatch,  about  twelve  feet, 
high  at  the  apex.  He  introduced  us  to  his  "  great 
wife/'  and  some  of  his  daughters,  and  showed  his 
fine  store  of  firewood,  neatly  piled  up  to  the  left  as 
we  enter,  and  his  great  earthen  jars,  cooking  utensils, 
milk-sack,  his  royal  robes,  or  tiger-skins,  and  his 
tiger-tails.  If  any  Kaffir  kills  a  tiger,  he  must  at 
once  inform  the  chief,  to  whom  all  the  tigers  are 
supposed  to  belong,  who  has  the  skin  taken  off  with 
great  ceremony,  and  dressed  for  himself.  None  but 
a  royal  Kaffir  is  allowed  to  own  or  wear  a  tiger's- 
skin.  A  tiger's-tail  stretched  over  the  top  of  a  stick, 
about  five  feet  in  length,  is  a  formidable  sight  before 
the  hut  of  any  Kaffir.     When  the  chief  wishes  to 


DAMASl's    "  GJiEAT   PLACE."  351 

call  a  man  to  answer  for  aDy  offence,  especially  when 
a  fine  is  to  be  imposed,  or  his  property  confiscated, 
he  sends  one  of  his  "  Imisila,"  or  sheriffs,  to  set  up  a 
tiger's-tail  in  front  of  the  offender's  hut.  When  the 
poor  fellow  comes  out  in  the  morning-,  and  sees  the 
dreadful  summons,  for  it  is  usually  served  when  the 
man  is  asleep,  he  is  filled  with  consternation,  and 
must  go  at  once  and  reckon  with  his  master,  who  has 
the  power  to  take  his  property  or  his  life. 

All  the  documentary  details  and  process  neces- 
sary to  arrest  and  arraign  a  civilized  man,  are  here 
accomplished  at  once  by  the  magic  spell  of  the  tiger's- 
tuil. 

The  chief  pointed  to  a  high  perpendicular  cliff, 
half-a-mile  from  his  hut,  and  informed  us  that  he 
threw  his  bad  fellows  over  that  precipice  and  dashed 
them  to  pieces.  Many  a  poor  wretch,  no  doubt, 
has  found  a  quick  passage  out  of  the  world  from 
that  cliff,  and  yet  Damasi's  appearance  is  not  that 
of  a  tyrant,  but  of  a  kind-hearted  generous  man,  and 
he  is  free  from  that  mean  spirit  which  most  chiefs 
evince,  of  begging  a  blanket  of  every  stranger  who 
may  visit  them.  When  we  subsequently  sent  word 
to  the  Great  Chief  Faku  that  we  expected  to  visit 
him  he  replied  to  the  messenger,  "  Is  Isikunisivu- 
tayo  travelling  with  blankets?"  Ilis  more  noble 
son  Damasi  supplied  us  with  new  clean  blankets  for 
our  use,  and  everything  we  needed  for  our  comfort 
during  our  sojourn  with  him,  and  scorned  even  a 
hint  at  pay  in    return.      I    was  told  of  a  clergy- 


o62  BUNTINGVILLE — ICUME. 

man  who  visited  a  neighbouring  chief,  who  at  once 
asked  the  "  Umfundisi "  if  he  had  brought  him  any 
blankets  ? 

"  No,"  said  he,  "  but  I  have  brought  you  some- 
thing better.  I  have  come  to  tell  you  the  good 
news  about  the  Great  God,  who  made  the  heavens 
above  us,  and  who  made  the  earth,  who  made 
us,  who  gave  you  all  your  lands,  your  mealies, 
Kaffir- corn,  and  pumpkins  ;  and  who  gave  you  your 
cattle,  goats,  and  sheep.     He  is  our  Father,  and — " 

The  chief  interrupting  him,  said,  "  Is  He  your 
Father  ?  " 

"  Yes/'  replied  the  missionary ;  "  he  is  my  Father, 
and  has  sent  me  to  tell  you  good  news.'* 

"  Well,"  said  the  chief,  with  a  grin,  "  if  your 
Father  is  so  kind  as  to  give  us  all  these  good  things 
for  nothing,  and  if  you  are  a  true  son  of  His,  can't 
you  give  me  one  blanket  ?  " 

After  Damasi  had  shown  us  the  things  in  his 
house,  his  bloody  cliff,  and  his  great  cattle  kraal, 
said  to  be  a  thousand  yards  in  circumference,  and 
the  largest  one  in  Ivaffraria,  he  said,  "  I  am  glad  to 
see  you,  but  the  most  of  my  people  arc  gone.  I  will 
call  all  who  are  near  to  come  to-morrow,  but  we  are 
only  a  few  now,"  and  then  went  on  to  tell  us,  that, 
owing  to  the  drought  the  preceding  year,  their 
stores  of  food  were  nearly  used  up,  and  that  a  largo 
number  of  his  people  had  gone  to  the  "  Umzim- 
vubu,"  to  get  supplies  of  food ;  and  that  last 
night/'  "  Umhlonhlo's  "  people  had  attacked  his  son's 


CHIEF    FAKU  S   TERRITORIAL   CLATMS.  353 

kraal  and  driven  away  a  large  number  of  cattle  and 
horses,  and  that  the  war-cry  had  called  a  large 
number  of  his  warriors  away  in  pursuit. 

The  fact  is,  Damasi's  policy  is  not  to  have  a 
great  number  of  his  people  settled  near  him,  but 
to  have  them  well  distributed  on  the  frontiers  of 
his  large  and  beautiful  country,  extending  from  the 
"Umtata"  on  the  west,  to  the  "  Umzimvubu,"  on 
the  east,  and  from  the  "  Tsitsa,"  on  the  north  down 
to  the  ocean. 

Damasi,  also,  claims  TJmhlonhlo's  country,  lying 
north  of  the  "  Tsitsa  Eiver."  When  KafFiaria  was 
being  desolated  by  "Qeta,"  the  revolted  chief  of 
Chaka,  the  Amabaca  tribe  to  which  the  "Osborn" 
TVesleyan  mission-station  belongs,  and  the  Amapon- 
dumsi,  of  whom  Umhlonhlo  is  chief,  to  which  Shaw- 
bury  mission-station  belongs,  made  common  cause  with 
the  Amapondo,  under  Faku,  who,  with  his  allies, 
crushed  the  invader.  These  two  tribes,  however,  were 
comparatively  small,  and  were  greatly  scattered 
during  the  war.  Soon  after  this,  the  representatives 
of  the  Colonial  Government,  wishing  to  have  some 
powerful  ally  among  the  Kaffrarian  tribes,  with  whom 
they  could  treat  for  the  purchase  of  land,  or  for  mutual 
defence,  selected  Faku  as  the  most  powerful  chief, 
and  asked  old  Faku  to  define  his  boundaries  ;  and  the 
old  squatter  laid  down  his  lines  from  the  Umtata. 
From  the  Umtata  river  to  Natal,  and  from  the  great 
Drakensberg  range  to  the  ocean,  comprising  a  block 
of  land  about  150  miles  square.     This  grand  survey, 

A       A 


354  BUKTUCGYILLE — ICUME. 

took  in  tlio  countries  of  the  two  named  tribes,  and 
"  jNbmanslancV  which  the  colonial  agents,  I  after- 
wards learnt,  bought  from  Faku,  and  gave  to  Adam 
Kok's  Ilottentots.  They  have  bought  Alfredia  also, 
which  has  been  annexed  to  the  colony  of  Natal. 

The  motives  of  these  colonial  agents  were,  no  doubt, 
all  right,  but  accepting  Fakir's  geographical  bound- 
aries as  valid,  and  forming  a  treaty  with  him  on 
that  broad  basis  of  his  pretended  claims,  Faku  seems 
to  take  it  for  granted  that  his  treaty  with  the  English 
confirms  his  title  to  all  these  vast  possessions,  and 
hence  he  has  for  years  been  at  war  with  the  Amabaca 
to  drive  them  off  the  land  which  they  inherited  from 
their  fathers;  and  Damasi  his  son  is  on  the  same 
grounds  fighting  the  Amapondumsi.  These  facts, 
which  I  received  from  Rev.  Mr.  White,  and  others 
on  the  spot,  explain  the  ostensible  ground  of  those 
marauding  wars,  so  damaging  to  the  Amapondo 
mission-stations,  but  more  especially  to  "Shawbury" 
and  "  Osborn."  I  say  "  ostensible  grounds,"  for  their 
real  motive  is  a  love  of  plunder,  which  would  be  the 
same  if  the  English  had  never  seen  their  country. 
Rev.  Mr.  Gedye  and  his  family  had  fled  from  Shaw- 
bury  under  Damasfs  invasions  but  a  few  weeks 
before,  and  were  then  at  Clarkebury;  Rev.  Brother 
White,  at  Osborn,  remained  at  the  peril  of  his  life, 
under  Faku's  invasion  of  the  Amabaca  country. 

The  wars  described  by  Rev.  W.  B.  Rayner,  in  a 
letter  published  in  the  Uissionanj  Notices  for  October 
last,  occurred  but  a  flw  weeks  before  our  tour  over 


WAR  SUSPENDED  FOR  A  CHIEF'S  MARRTAGE.        355 

their  battle-fields,  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  of  peace. 
Mr.  Rayner's  letter,  dated  July  the  20th,  the  week 
we  were  labouring  at  Butterworth,  fifteen  days 
before  we  visited  him  at  Morley,  describes  the  kind 
of  field  on  which  we  had  entered  when  at  Damasi's 
Great  Place,  as  follows  : — 

The  present  state  of  this  country  is  not  very  favourable 
for  missionary  success.  Hostilities  have  been  going  on 
between  the  Amapondurasi  and  the  Amapondo  for  some 
time,  and  as  the  Tsitsa,  on  which  Shawbury  station  is  built, 
happens  to  be  the  boundary  river  between  the  two  contend- 
ing tribes,  the  marauding  parties  of  either  side  must  pass 
somewhere  near  the  station ;  and  thus  either  false  or  real 
alarms  of  war  keep  the  station  in  a  constant  fever  of  excite- 
ment, until  Mr.  Gedye  has  at  length  been  obliged  to  remove 
to  Clarkebury. 

A  grimly  amusing  episode  has  just  happened.  Um- 
hlonhlo,  the  Chief  of  the  Amapondumsi,  sent  to  Damasi, 
Chief  of  the  Amapondo,  saying  that  he  was  preparing  to 
marry  his  great  wife,  and  therefore  he  wanted  the  war  to 
"  sit  still  a  little  while."  Damasi  actually  agreed,  with  tin? 
understanding  that  Umhlonhlo  should  let  him  know  when 
he  was  ready  to  fight  again  J 

It  was  during  this  lull  in  the  storm,  for  Um- 
hlonhlo's  marriage  to  his  seventh  wife,  that  we  came 
into  Damasi's  country,  but  now  hostilities  had  been 
renewed,  and  the  whole  region  was  in  a  war-panic. 
Hev.  Mr.  Hunter  had  told  us,  that  at  Damasi's  Great 
Place,  I  should  have  a  congregation  of  at  least  one 
thousand  heathens,  and  we  had  made  up  our  minds 
to  tarry  there  some  days,  if  the  Lord  should  open  for 


356  BUNTINGVlLLE — 10%  ME. 

us  a  door  of  access  to  them.  This  sudden  turn  of 
events  was  saddening  to  our  hopes,  but  we  arranged 
to  spend  the  Sabbath,  and  do  the  best  we  could  under 
the  circumstances. 

While  we  stood  talking  to  Damasi,  we  saw  a  lot 
of  young  Kaffirs  in  pursuit  of  a  bullock.  Down  the 
hill  they  came  at  full  speed,  and  fetched  up  in  front 
of  us. 

"  There/'  said  the  chief,  pointing  to  the  panting 
bullock,  "  is  a  cake  of  bread  for  you."  It  was  driven 
to  the  back  of  our  hut,  "  assegaied,"  skinned  and 
quartered  with  great  despatch.  The  whole  of  the 
beef  was  hung  up  by  quarters  in  our  hut,  and  the 
skin  laid  in  a  roll  underneath.  According  to  custom, 
the  whole  belonged  to  the  strange  Umfundisi,  who  is 
expected  to  make  a  present  of  the  hide  to  the  chief, 
and  also  to  send  a  fore-quarter  to  the  chiefs  "  great 
wife,"  and  take  the  chief  as  his  guest  during  his 
sojourn,  all  of  which  we  performed  with  due  cere- 
mony. We  had  brought  with  us  a  supply  of  bread, 
coffee,  and  sugar,  so  with  the  beef  broiled  on  the  end 
of  a  stick,  we  entertained  his  royal  highness  in  good 
style.  We  sent  rations  also  to  our  friend  Vava  and 
his  party,  Mr.  Morrison,  Mr.  Straghan,  son,  and  son- 
in-law — three  English  traders — who  came  to  attend 
our  meeting,  feasted  at  our  common  board.  Charles, 
myself,  Stuart,  and  our  white  visitors  slept  on  the 
ground-floor  of  the  hut,  having  each  a  Kaffir  mat — 
about  three  by  six  feet  made  of  reeds — and  our  rugs 
and  coats,  with  a  couple  pair  of  extra  blankets  sent 


PREACHING    AT    THE    "  GREAT   PLACE."  357 

us  by  the  chief,  our  saddles  and  other  traps  answered 
for  pillows.  On  Sabbath  morning,  the  12th  of 
August,  our  congregation  assembled  behind  a  hut 
near  the  chief's  mansion,  consisting  of  Damasi,  his 
eight  wives,  and  thirty  or  forty  children  (Damasi  said 
he  did  not  know  how  many  children  he  had),  and 
about  one  hundred  warriors,  armed  with  their  asse- 
gais and  shields,  ready  for  war  emergencies.  Damasi 
came  out  in  state.  Instead  of  the  red  blanket  he  had 
worn  the  day  before,  he  had  a  large  tiger-skin  over  his 
shoulders,  which  constituted  his  entire  dress,  except 
a  pair  of  rustic  slippers  on  his  feet.  They  all  listened 
with  great  attention,  but  no  decisive  result  was 
reached.  In  preaching  to  heathen  on  various  occa- 
sions, beginning  with  first  principles,  and  leading 
them  on  to  a  living  Saviour  in  a  single  discourse,  it 
required  at  least  an  hour  and  a  half  to  deliver  such  a 
sermon  through  an  interpreter,  but  we  seldom  failed 
to  secure  the  end,  the  salvation  of  souls,  on  every 
such  occasion.  However,  some  of  our  friends  thought 
we  preached  too  long,  so  on  this  occasion  we  agreed 
to  try  a  new  plan,  which  was  to  preach  half-an-hour, 
and  then  have  a  little  talk  with  them  personally, 
and  draw  them  out,  and  after  a  brief  recess  resumo 
the  thread  of  discourse,  and  go  on  for  another  half- 
hour,  and  so  on. 

We  got  into  the  subject  very  satisfactorily.  They 
appeared  to  understand  it,  and  nearly  all  seemed  to 
agree  that  our  words  were  true,  but  we  had  not 
reached  the  vital  point  of  convincing  them  of  their 


358  BUNTING  VILLE — 1CUME. 

lost  condition,  and  of  offering  a  present  Saviour, 
when  the  time  came  for  recess.  We  then  asked 
them  to  talk,  and  ask  any  questions  they  wished  on 
the  subject  of  discourse.  Some  questions  were  asked 
md  answered,  when  one  of  the  counsellors  said  he 
'  did  not  believe  in  a  future  state,  or  in  Imishologu  ; 
that  we  all  die  like  a  pig,  and  there  is  no  more  of 
us/'  "  The  chief  replied  to  him,  saying,  "  The  man 
certainly  could  not  be  such  a  fool  as  that,  for  all  our 
fathers  believed  in  Imishologu,  and  so  do  we,  and  our 
people/'  The  Kaffir  infidel  then  got  up  and  went 
away,  and  seeing  that  they  all  were  getting  restless, 
we  thought  it  best  to  dismiss  them,  and  have  them 
assemble  for  another  service  in  the  afternoon.  We 
felt  that  service  to  be  very  unsatisfactory.  Charles 
seemed  really  discouraged,  the  first  and  only  time  I 
found  him  so.  I  assured  him  that  "  the  result  was 
what  we  might  have  expected,  having  opened  our 
Gospel  battery  against  such  a  stronghold  of  wild 
heathenism,  we  should  have  fired  away,  till  they 
should  at  least  feel  the  weight  of  our  heaviest  metal, 
but,  instead  of  that,  we  called  a  parley  just  as  we  were 
getting  well  into  range;  we  have  not  preached 
Christ  yet  at  all,  and  we  can't  complain  that  they  did 
not  accept  Him." 

Charles  cheered  up,  and  we  agreed  that  in  preach- 
ing to  the  heathen,  no  matter  what  others  thought 
or  said,  we  would,  regardless  of  the  time  required, 
never  stop  short  of  giving  them  the  whole  plan  of 
salvation  necessary  to  an  intelligible  offer  of  Christ. 


A  IIAKD  old  cmnsTTAsr.  359 

In  the  interval,  Damasi's  counsellors  gathered  round 
him  in  a  circle,  and  discussed  the  exciting  topics  of  the 
day,  especially  the  war  with  Umhlonhlo,  and  when 
we  assembled  for  a  second  service,  a  number  of  the 
warriors  who  were  with  us  in  the  morning  found  it 
convenient  to  be  absent.  The  chief  said  their  duties 
called  them  home.  We  did  the  best  we  could  to 
make  up  for  our  failure  in  the  forenoon,  and  at  night 
we  had  a  prayer- meeting  in  our  hut.  We  had  as 
seekers  that  night,  the  three  white  traders,  Mr. 
Straghan,  son,  and  son-in-law,  two  Kaffir  men,  one 
of  Damasi's  eight  wives,  and  two  of  his  daughters. 
Mr.  Straghan,  his  son-in-law,  and  a  Kaffir  man  pro- 
fessed to  obtain  peace  with  Go:l.  Next  morning, 
before  breakfast,  we  had  a  fellowship-meeting,  during 
which  Damasi  came  into  the  hut,  Chief  Vava,  and 
two  or  three  of  his  party,  and  the  white  men  gave 
their  testimony  to  the  saving  grace  of  God.  Then 
old  Damasi  said,  "  I  and  my  people  are  all  Chris- 
tians. We  have  all  been  Christians  ever  since  Mr. 
Wakeford  came  among  us."  A  hard  old  Christian, 
we  thought,  with  eight  wives,  but  he  had  received 
the  missionaries,  had  helped  liberally  to  build  a 
mission-house,  and  was  engaged  in  building  a  chapel, 
and  when  Brother  Hunter's  congregations  fall  off, 
he  has  only  to  inform  his  great  chief  to  get  a  large 
audience  of  heathen,  and  why  should  he  not  have 
as  much  right  to  claim  to  be  a  Christian,  as  the  mass 
of  formalists,  in  Christian  countries,  who  have  supe- 
rior advantages,  and  do  less  for  the  cause  of  Christ  ? 


SCO  BUNT1NGVILLE — ICUME. 

"We  felt  very  grateful  for  the  old  chief's  kindness, 
and  very  sorry  that  he  did  not  so  feel  his  need  of 
Christ  as  to  accept  of  Him  as  a  Saviour  from  his 
sins.  On  Monday,  about  ten,  a.m.,  we  bade  adieu 
to  Brother  Hunter  and  his  party,  and  to  Damasi,  and 
received  his  "  kuhle  hamba,"  and  under  the  conduct 
of  our  former  guide,  Brother  Morrison,  pushed  on  in 
our  journey  toward  Shawbury,  distant  about  thirty- 
six  miles. 

The  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  Brother 
Hunter,  published  in  the  Missionary  Notices,  will  con- 
vey an  idea  of  his  estimate  of  the  work  of  God,  and 
its  embarrassments  in  this  field  of  labour. 

It  is  with  pleasure  I  write  you  a  few  lines  to-day.  My 
joy  would  know  no  bounds,  and  my  whole  nature  would 
praise  God  if  I  could  say  that  all  the  hindrances  to  our 
work  here  have  been  removed.  This  I  cannot  say,  for 
alas  !  it  is  far  from  being  true.  Nevertheless  I  rejoice, 
because  the  Lord  in  mercy  has  visited  and  blessed  us. 
Some  of  the  worst  df  the  station-  people  have  been  aroused 
to  seek  God,  and  some  of  them  profess  to  have  found  the 
peace  which  passeth  all  understanding,  and  are  joyful  in 
the  God  of  their  salvation.  All  the  old  members  have 
been  quickened,  and  some  twenty-three  new  ones  have  been 
received,  so  that  we  have  now  just  doubled  the  number  of 
members  immediately  resident  on  this  station,  which  we  had 
a  little  while  ago.  This  work  is  of  God,  and  our  hope  is 
that  it  will  spread,  and  the  world's  Redeemer  be  glorified 
in  the  salvation  of  many  of  the  perishing  ones,  by  whom  we 
are  surrounded  in  this  dark  land. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

SIIAWBU  RY ELU  NCUTA. 

Shawbury  was  named  in  honour  of  the  old  pioneer- 
general,  who  planned,  and  superintended  the  found- 
ing of  the  whole  line  of  old  Kaffrarian  Missions, 
the  Rev.  Vim.  Shaw.  For  picturesque  scenery — 
hills,  dales,  mimosa  groves,  cataracts,  deep  gorges, 
and  precipitous  cliffs,  overhanging  the  Tsitsa  river, 
a  bold  and  beautiful  stream — the  site  of  Shawburv 
surpasses  all  the  rest.  It  was  established  amid  great 
hazards  and  difficulties  by  Eev.  Wni.  II.  Garner, 
who  was  sent  out  by  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society 
in  1837;  his  widow  now  lives  at  Alice,  near  Fort 
Beaufort. 

This  became  the  most  populous,  and  was  hence 
thought  to  be  the  most  promising  of  any  of  the 
Kaffrarian  Stations ;  but  while  it  reached  a  popula- 
tion of  three  thousand  souls,  its  actual  membership 
of  professing  Christians  never  much  exceeded  one 
hundred.  At  the  time  of  our  visit,  the  number  was 
about  ninety-five,  and  the  whole  station  involved 
in    war    complications   jeopardizing    its    existence. 


SG2 


SIIAWBUIIY — ELUNCUTA. 


It  is  located  within  the  lines  of  the  Amaponduinsi 
Tribe,  but  the  Tsitsa  near  by  is  the  boundary  be- 
tween that  tribe  and  Damasi's  Pondos,  with  whom 
they  are  at  war ;  yet  the  most  of  the  mission-station 
people  are  Fingoes,  and  don't  really  belong  to  either 
of  those  tribes,  and  should  not  have  been  involved  in 
the  war  at  all,  and  would  not,  it  they  had  improved 
their  opportunities  and  become  Christians.  As 
they  did  not  belong  really  to  either  party,  they 
were  under  no  legal  obligation  to  fight,  for  both 
belligerent  parties  were  bound  by  promise  to  the 
missionaries  not  to  interfere  with  them ;  but  those 
three  thousand  natives  had  their  beautiful  lines  of 
huts  on  the  mission-station,  their  fields  of  corn,  and 
cattle,  enjoying  the  ministerial  and  magisterial  care 
of  the  missionary,  released  from  the  iron  rule  of 
Kaffir  law,  and  the  terror  of  the  witch-doctor,  and 
yet  the  mass  of  them  refusing  to  submit  to  Christ, 
they  waxed  fat  and  kicked,  and  God  gave  them  a 
little  leeway  to  themselves,  and  they  soon  got  them- 
selves into  an  awful  complication  of  war  troubles. 
It  was  while  I  was  labouring  in  Graham's  Town, 
that  I  first  heard  of  their  sad  state,  by  a  letter  from 
their  missionary,  Rev.  Mr.  Gedye,  to  Rev.  W.  J. 
Davis,  in  which  Brother  Gedye  stated  that  he  had 
received  notice  from  Daraasi  to  leave  the  station,  as 
he  would  not  be  responsible  for  his  life,  or  that  of  his 
family,  for  he  meant  to  destroy  Umhlonhlo,  and  take 
his  country,  and  the  mission-station  was  right  in  his 
war-patb-     But  Umhlonhlo,  on  the  other  hand,  had 


A   MISSIONARY    IN   WAll   TROUBLES.  3G3 

forbidden  him  to  leave  the  place,  so  he  and  his  family 
were  in  jeopardy  of  life.  Our  sympathy  was  greatly 
enlisted  for  him  and  his  family,  and  also  for  his 
native  teacher,  whom  he  was  protecting  in  a  locked 
room  in  the  mission-house  against  the  threatened 
vengeance  of  TJmhlonhlo,  and  earnest  mention  was 
made  of  them  in  our  private  and  public  prayers. 

Some  time  after  that,  Rev,  Mr,  Solomon,  on  his 
way  to  Nomansland,  spent  a  night  near  Shawbury, 
and  hearing  of  the  position  of  Mr.  Gedye,  sent  for 
TTmhlonhlo  to  visit  his  camp  next  day,  and  thus 
ebtaining  an  interview  with  the  chief,  persuaded  him 
to  release  his  missionary  and  let  him  go  away.  Soon 
after  Mr.  Gedye  took  his  family  and  went  to  Clarke- 
bury,  where  I  met  him,  his  native  teacher  escaped 
also  and  went  to  Natal.  Brother  Hargraves  from 
Clarkebury,  and  Brother  Rayner  from  Morley,  had 
gone  to  Shawbury,  and  had  a  council  with  TJmhlonhlo 
and  his  leading  men,  to  try  to  settle  the  difficulties 
between  the  chief  and  his  missionary,  and  prevent 
the  total  wreck  of  the  station,  which  was  hard 
aground  in  a  place  where  two  seas  met ;  but  I 
believe  they  considered  their  mission  a  failure,  and 
brought  away  the  impression  that  the  mission-people 
were  so  demoralized,  that  there  was  but  little  hope 
for  them  politically  or  spiritually,  for  after  their 
missionary  left  they  had  a  Kaffir  beer-feast,  got  into 
a  great  fight  among  themselves,  battering  and  cutting 
each  other,  and  had  actually  killed  one  man.  This 
briefly;  leaving  out  many  details,  was  the  state  of  the 


3G4  SIIAWLURY — ELUNCUTA. 

case,  so  far  as  we  had  learned  it  before  our  visit  to 
Shawbury ;  but  we  learned  much  more  before  we  got 
through,  as  my  narrative  will  show.  As  we  have 
seen,  the  armistice  secured  for  Umhlonhlo's  marriage 
and  honeymoon  with  his  seventh  wife,  was  now 
at  an  end,  and  hostilities  had  been  resumed.  On 
the  last  Friday  preceding  our  visit,  Umhlonhlo's 
marauders  had  invaded  Damasi's  country,  and 
driven  off  a  lot  of  horses  and  cattle,  and  on  the 
Saturday  night  preceding,  the  Shawbury  Mission- 
people  had  rescued  a  lot  of  cattle,  which  a  band  of 
Damasi's  warriors  were  driving  away  from  Umhlon- 
hlo's dominions,  so  they  were  now  in  the  midst  of 
wars,  and  rumours  of  wars,  almost  daily.  There  was 
but  little  danger  to  white  travellers  in  the  day-time, 
but  at  night  it  was  not  expected  that  warriors  should 
readily  distinguish  the  colour  of  a  man's  skin,  and 
Umhlonhlo  had  issued  an  order  that  no  one  should 
travel  within  his  lines  after  dark. 

We  left  Damasi's  Great  Place  on  Monday,  the 
13th  of  August,  and  it  being  but  thirty-six  miles  to 
Shawbury,  we  hoped  to  reach  before  night,  not  only 
on  account  of  the  chief's  orders,  and  the  danger 
of  travelling  after  dark,  but  also  because  of  the  very 
rough  travelling  near  Shawbury,  and  the  dangerous 
drift  at  the  Tsitsa  ;  but,  unhappily,  we  got  a  late  start, 
and  were  unnecessarily  detained  at  the  "  Nokloka 
drift,"  where  we  "  out-spanned,"  so  that  five  miles  of 
fearfully  steep,  rough  roads,  and  the  rocky  diagonal 
ford  of  the  river  of  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards. 


DARK   AND    DANGEROUS   TRAVELLING.  365 

had  to  be  made  in  the  darkness  of  a  moonless  night, 
through  the  lines  of  Umhlonhlo's  armed  sentinels. 
We  worked  our  way  slowly  along,  and  told  all  the 
warriors  we  met  about  the  great  preaching  services 
to  commence  next  day  at  the  station,  and  to  be  sure 
to  come  and  bring  their  friends.  When  we  got  to 
the  drift,  it  was  so  dark,  we  could  not  see  the  line  of 
the  ford,  or  where  we  should  land  on  the  other  side ; 
but  we  got  a  native  guide,  who  piloted  us  through, 
and  on  to  the  station.  Our  guide  had  not  to  take 
off  his  clothes  to  wade  across  the  river,  for  he  had 
none  on  him,  and  had  probably  never  been  burdened 
with  an  article  of  clothing  in  his  life.  Neither  he 
nor  any  of  his  compatriots  have  any  laundry  bills  to 
pay.  To  our  agreeable  surprise  we  found  Eev. 
Charles  White,  the  missionary  from  Osborn  Station, 
thirty-five  miles  beyond,  had  come  to  meet  us,  and 
was  waiting  to  receive  us  at  the  mission-house.  There 
was  a  white  trader  still  remaining  on  the  station,  a 
good  man,  with  a  pious  wife,  who  did  what  they 
could  to  supply  all  that  we  needed  for  ourselves  and 
our  horses.  A  kind  native  Christian  woman  did  the 
honours  of  the  kitchen  for  us,  and  with  Brother 
White  for  our  priest,  we  were  all  right,  unless  we 
should  be  surprised  by  a  night  attack  from  the 
Pondos,  which  we  felt  assured  would  not  be  ordered 
by  our  friend  Damasi  while  we  were  there. 

On  Tuesday,  at  eleven  a.m.,  we  had  the  chapel 
crowded  with  five  or  six  hundred  hearers.  From 
our  stand-point  we  preached  to   them  plainly,   but 


3C6  SIIAWBURY — ELUNCUTA. 

kindly,  illustrating  from  Jewish  history  the  parallels 
of  their  own,  and  showed  them  that  when  the  Jews 
were  true  to  God,  they  enjoyed  the  peace  of  God 
in  their  hearts,  and  His  protection  against  their 
enemies;  but  when  they  despised  and  abused  their 
mercies,  they  brought  guilt  and  remorse  upon  their 
own  souls,  and  God,  in  such  cases,  after  bearing  long 
with  them,  and  doing  everything  possible  to  bring 
them  to  repentance,  delivered  them  over  to  their 
enemies,  and  all  the  horrors  of  the  most  desolating 
wars,  and  their  only  remedy  was  a  return  to  God. 
They  sat  "  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death, 
bound  in  affliction  and  iron" — chained  in  dungeons, 
approaching  death  casting  its  dark  shadow  upon 
them,  and  why  ?  "  Because  they  rebelled  against 
the  words  of  God,  and  contemned  the  council  of  the 
Most  High :  therefore,  He  brought  down  their  heart 
with  labour ;  they  fell  down,  and  there  was  none  to 
help/'  Poor  sinners,  what  did  they  do  ?  .  "  Then 
they  cried  unto  the  Lord  in  their  trouble,  and  He 
saved  them  out  of  their  distresses.  He  brought 
them  out  of  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death,  and 
broke  their  bands  in  sunder.  Oh,  that  men  would 
praise  the  Lord  for  His  goodness,  and  for  His  won- 
derful works  to  the  children  of  men/'  There  was 
deliverance,  and  a  shout  of  victory  and  praise  to  God 
for  "  His  wonderful  works." 

"Now,  see  how  this  fits  the  facts  at  Shawbury. 
Here  you  have  had  the  Gospel  preached  for  thirty 
years.     You  have  come  to  this  beautiful  spot  from 


CAUSE    AND    EFFECTS    OF   HIE    WAR.  .587 

all  parts,  and  have  been  living  under  the  shade  of 
God's  missionaries.  Besides  a  preached  Gospel 
every  week,  you  have  had  schools  for  the  education 
of  your  children,  and  many  of  you  have  been  taught 
to  read  God's  Book  ;  the  blessing  of  God  has  been 
upon  your  fields,  your  cattle,  your  children,  your 
homes,  even  your  dogs  have  been  exempt  from  the 
curse  of  the  witch-doctors  of  the  heathen  !  What 
have  you  done  in  return  for  all  these  mercies  of  God  ? 
Of  three  thousand  souls  on  this  station,  not  quite  one 
hundred  of  you  are  connected  with  the  society  at  all 
— one  hundred  and  six  a  year  ago,  and  now  about 
ninety-five  members  on  this  whole  station,  and  but  a 
small  proportion  of  them  true  disciples  of  Jesus — and 
"  because  ye  have  rebelled  against  the  words  of  God, 
and  contemned  the  council  of  the  Most  High/'  there- 
fore, He  is  bringing  down  your  hearts  with  labour, 
you  are  falling  down,  and  there  is  no  man  to  help  you. 
We  are  not  here  to  upbraid  you,  nor  mock  you  in 
your  misery,  but  to  pity  you,  and  beg  you  to  consider 
your  ways,  and  turn  away  from  your  sins,  and  cry 
unto  the  Lord  in  your  trouble,  who  may  save  you 
out  of  your  distresses."  This  is  a  mere  illustration 
of  the  general  drift  of  a  discourse  of  an  hour  and 
half,  which  Charles  sent  home  with  the  unmistakable 
ring  of  Kaffir  periods  which  seldom  missed  their 
aim.  We  then  called  for  penitents,  and  about  fifty 
at  once  came  out  avowedly  as  seekers,  and  a  small 
number  were  saved.  We  did  not  consider  it  safe  to 
hold  meetings  at  night  as  they  had  to  stand  by  their 


383  BIIAWBURY — ELTJNCUTA. 

assegais  to  guard  their  homes  ;  but  we  announced  lor 
preaching  again  in  the  afternoon., 

To  our  surprise  at  the  next  service  our  congrega- 
tion did  not  exceed  150  persons,  and  they  seemed 
more  dead  than  alive.  We  had  about  thirty  seekers, 
and  they  were  in  a  gloomy  unbelieving  state,  and 
but  few  of  them  accepted  Christ.  On  Wednesday  ^ 
we  preached  twice,  but  we  only  had  out  about  150, 
and  it  was  a  hard  drag.  An  invitation  had  been  sent 
to  Umhlonhlo  to  attend  the  services,  and  on  Wed- 
nesday he  came  to  the  trader's  shop,  but  did  not  put 
in  an  appearance  at  the  chapel,  giving  as  a  reason 
that  Adam  Kok  with  eight  wagons,  and  many  of  his 
men,  were  passing  through  his  country,  and  he  had 
to  go  and  meet  them;  so  he  went  to  meet  Cap- 
tain Kok,  and  took  with  him  the  head  man  of  the 
station,  whom  we  hoped  to  lead  in  a  different  direc- 
tion. 

On  Thursday  we  left  Charles  to  do  the  forenoon 
preaching,  and  Brother  Roberts,  Stuart,  and  I,  set 
out  for  a  visit  to  the  Tsitsa  Falls,  five  miles  distant. 
As  we  were  passing  the  line  of  huts  eastward  from 
the  mission-house,  we  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
the  Kaffir  mode  of  storing  away  their  corn. 
"Gideon"  of  old,  "threshed  wheat  by  the  wine- 
press to  hide  it  from  the  Mideonites,"  so  for  a  similar 
reason  the  Kaffirs  hide  all  their  corn.  They  dig 
holes  in  their  cattle  kraals,  from  eight  to  ten  feet 
deep,  and  from  six  to  eight  feet  wide,  lined  with 
waterproof  cement.     The  shape  is  that  of  the  old 


HIDING   THE   CORN.  369 

Hebrew  cisterns  in  Palestine,  drawn  in  at  the  mouth 
to  the  diameter  of  about  a  foot,  leaving  space  for  a 
small  Kaffir  to  descend  to  get  out  their  hid  stores 
as  they  are  needed.  Their  women  carry  the  corn  in 
large  baskets  on  their  heads.  Kaffir-corn  grows  like 
brown-corn,  with  a  seed  of  double  the  size,  and 
"  mealies,"  a  staple  with  them,  is  simply  maize,  or 
Indian-corn. 

"We  saw  them,  on  this  occasion,  pouring  in,  turn 
after  turn,  till  the  hole  was  nearly  full  of  clean  corn, 
in  good  order.  Those  holes  are  thus  filled  and 
covered  with  a  broad  flat  stone,  and  then  with  the 
debris  of  the  cattle  kraal,  and  no  stranger  can  tell 
from  any  outward  indications  whether  there  are  any 
such  deposits,  or  where  hidden.  During  the  wars,  the 
colonial  soldiers  used  to  thump  over  the  cattle  kraals 
with  their  ram-rods,  sounding  for  corn.  If  such  a 
hole  was  partly  empty  it  returned  a  hollow  sound, 
but  if  full  they  were  hard  to  find. 

Stuart,  in  his  journal,  thus  describes  our  trip  to 
the  Falls:— 

We  left  our  horses  near  the  Falls  in  care  of  a  Kaffir, 
while  we  took  another  Kaffir  as  a  guide,  and  descended  to 
the  river  below  the  cataract.  The  walk  around  was  very 
long,  and  the  descent  very  steep,  but  we  were  well  repaid 
for  our  toil  by  the  beautiful  view  we  had  below.  Having 
gazed  with  admiration  for  some  time  from  a  good  stand- 
point on  the  westerly  side,  we  took  off  our  boots  and  waded 
across  the  stream,  in  some  of  the  deepest  parts  jumping 
from  rock  to  rock,  and  then  we  clambered  over  a  series  ol 

BB 


370  SIMWfiURY.  —  ELUNCUTA. 

mgged  ledges?  near  the  base  nf  the  mountain,  and  gnat 
b  .i.l  lers  near  the  edge  nf  the  river,  till  we  got  up  as  close 
as  die  spray  would  allow  us,  to  the  falling  water;  and 
there  we  witnessed  a  \  lienomenon,  to  us  new,  and  intensely 
beautiful.  It  was  a  rainbow  formed  by  the  reflection  and 
refraction  of  the  sun's  rays  upon  the  spray,  so  as  to  make 
a  complete,  though  somewhat  oval-shaped,  circle.  Westood 
in  the  lower  rim  ol  the  great  rainbow  circle,  and  felt  that 
for  once  we  had  indeed  caught  up  with  the  rainbow,  and 
stood  in  the  midst  of  its  glory  more  glittering  than  gold, 
yet  "  the  bag  of  gold  we  found  not."  The  Tsitsa  Falls  are 
375  feet  high,  "200  feet  higher  than  Niagara,  and  must  be 
grand  in  summer  when  flic  river  is  in  flood,  but  now  the 
river  is  low,  and  is  divided  here  into  three  principal  streams 
which  are  about  seventy  feet  apart,  where  they  bound  over 
the  precipice  to  the  depths  below.  Having  made  our  obser- 
vations, we  proposed  to  ascend  the  cliffs  from  where  we 
were — the  opposite  side  of  the  river  from  our  route  of 
descent.  Our  guide  who  lives  near  the  head  of  the  Falls, 
said  that  no  white  man  1  ad  ever  gone  up  there.  We  deter- 
mined, however,  to  go  up  as  far  as  we  could,  and  after 
hard  climbing,  and  no  small  risk  of  falling  and  breaking 
our  necks,  we  succeeded  in  reaching  the  heights,  and  having 
collected  some  pretty  specimens  of  agates,  rolled  a  few 
stones  over  the  falls  to  measure  the  depth  by  the  sound, 
had  a  good  swimming  bathe  in  the  river,  we  saddled 
our  horses,  and  turned  their  heads  for  the  station.  Passing 
the  kraal,  where  we  got  our  herdsman  and  guide,  we  stopped 
and  sang  in  Kaffir,  for  the  poor  heathen  men,  women,  and 
children,  the  hymn  called  The  Eden  above,  to  which  they 
listened  attentively,  :i\:d  seemed  very  much  pleased. 

On   our  return,  we   said,   "  Charles,   how  did  you 
get  on  in  the  chapel  to-day  ?  " 


LABOURING    UJS'DEH   DISADVANTAGES.  371 

"  We  had  out  about  the  same  number  as  yesterday, 
and  I  preached  to  them  as  well  as  I  could." 

"  Did  you  have  a  prayer-meeting  ?  " 

"  No,  I  thought  we  had  better  wait  till  you  should 
get  back." 

Charles  did  not  ordinarily  wait  for  anybody  where 
the  Spirit  led  the  way,  but  he  felt  the  terrible  repul- 
sion which  we  all  felt,  but  which  as  yet  we  could 
not  understand.  That  afternoon  we  preached  again, 
and  had  a  few  conversions,  and  among  them  Mr. 
White's  servant-man,  from  Osborn.  We  had  a  fel- 
lowship-meeting, and  he  spoke  like  the  Lord's  free- 
man, as  he  was.  About  a  dozen  others  spoke,  pro- 
fessing to  have  obtained  peace,  but  it  was  with  trem- 
bling, and  several  who  had  professed  did  not  speak 
at  all,  so  that  in  everything  there  seemed  to  be  the 
presence  of  some  diabolical  spell.  That  day  I  wrote 
to  the  Rev.  William  Shepstone,  the  chairman,  ex- 
plaining matters  as  I  aaw  them,  and  begged  him  to 
do  what  he  could  to  afford  relief  by  his  influence 
with  the  chiefs,  which  is  great,  and  by  sending  some 
one  to  try  to  look  after  the  scattered  sheep.  Brother 
Gedye  is  a  fine  Kaffir  scholar,  and  a  brother  of 
zeal,  but  having  had  trouble  there  with  Umhlonhlo, 
it  was  better  to  have  a  change.  Next  morning, 
when  we  were  preparing  to  leave  with  Brother 
White  for  his  station,  we  learned  that  the  official 
members  of  the  society  wanted  to  meet  us  in  council, 
to  which  we  readily  consented,  without  having  the 
least  hint  of  what  was  to  be  the  subject  of  debate. 


372  SHAWBUIIY. — ELTJNCUTA. 

Thoy  soon  gathered  round  us  in  the  dining-room, 
squatting  down  on  all  sides  and  in  every  corner,  a 
sombre-looking  set  of  natives  as  I  had  seen  at  any  time. 
I  saw  by  iheir  long  pause  that  something  solemn 
was  pending,  and  soon  perceived,  by  the  direction  of 
their  eyes,  who  had  been  appointed  to  open  the  case, 
and  who  was  to  plead  their  cause.  After  a  little 
time  an  old  man,  whom  they  called  Elijah,  arose, 
and  with  the  gravity  of  a  Roman  senator,  said,  "We 
want  to  know  why  the  district-meeting  have  thrown 
us  away  ?  What  great  crime  have  we  been  guilty 
of  that  we  should  be  driven  off  like  scabby  goats,  to 
be  devoured  by  the  wild  beasts  ?  It  is  not  common 
to  punish  men  till  they  have  been  tried  and  found 
guilty ;  even  among  the  heathen  a  man  is  '  smellcd 
out '  before  he  is  '  eaten  up,'  but  here,  in  the  midst 
of  our  dreadful  punishment,  we  have  come  to  ask 
you  what  is  our  crime  ?"  I  at  once  woke  up  to  the 
subject,  for  I  found  that  we  were  put  upon  our  trial 
under  a  very  grave  charge,  involving  the  issues  of 
life  and  death.  A  lawyer,  by  the  name  of  Job,  was 
sitting  beside  Elijah,  biding  his  time,  and  from  his 
flashing  eyes  and  swelling  jugulars,  I  knew  it  was 
no  child's  play  that  we  had  to  do.  So  by  a  few 
questions  in  an  undertone  to  Brother  White,  I  got 
an  outline  of  the  facts,  and  by  this  time  Elijah  was 
seated  and  Job  was  on  his  feet,  and  passing  his 
blanket  round  his  otherwise  naked  body,  and  throw- 
ing it  gracefully  over  his  left  shoulder,  proceeded  in 
a  subdued  but  masterly  style  of  eloqucoe'?  to  say  in 


A    GRAVE    CHARGE    TO    BE    MET.  373 

effect: — "What  my  brother  has  just  said  is  true. 
The  district-meeting  have  thrown  us  away,  and  we 
are  being  destroyed.  We  have  always  had  confidence 
in  our  missionaries  and  in  the  district-meeting,  but 
our  confidence  has  been  betrayed  and  forfeited,  and 
paow  we  are  ruined.  The  most  of  these  people  on 
the  station  are  Fingoes.  They  have  been  brought 
up  under  the  rule  of  the  missionaries,  and  they  came 
here  into  Umhlonhlo's  country  not  to  serve  Umhlon- 
hlo, but  to  live  under  the  missionary.  The  missionary 
was  our  father,  and  we  looked  to  him  for  a  father's 
care.  These  people  have  no  right  to  fight  for 
Umhlonhlo  any  more  than  for  Damasi,  nor  to  be  eaten 
up  by  him.  I  am  not  a  Fingoe,  I  belong  to  Umh- 
lonhlo, but  the  most  of  these  people  do  not,  yet  the 
district-meeting  has  thrown  them  away,  delivered 
them  to  Umhlonhlo,  who  says  they  must  all  fight  for 
him  against  Damasi.  Umhlonhlo  himself  has  eaten 
many  of  them  up,  and  they  are  all  in  jeopardy  of 
their  lives  every  day,  and  he  is  forcing  old  heathen 
customs  upon  them  that  they  never  were  subject  to 
in  their  lives."  At  the  "  Tina,"  an  out-station,  about 
twelve  miles  distant,  "  he  has  revived  the  horrible 
old  custom  of  '  upundhlo,'  requiring  even  Christian 
men  to  send  their  daughters  to  lodge  for  the  night 
in  the  huts  of  the  chief  and  his  amapakati,  and  we 
know  not  what  day  the  same  brutal  custom  may 
be  imposed  on  the  people  of  this  station.  All  this 
has  come  upon  the  people  here  because  the  district- 
meeting   abandoned    us  to  the   rule  of  a   heathen 


374  SHAWBURY. — ELUNCUTA. 

chief.  We  would  gladly  leave  everything  and  go 
away,  but  the  chief  won't  allow  us  to  leave,  so 
here  we  are,  and  we  want  to  know  our  crime,  and 
why  the  district-meeting  has  dealt  with  us  so 
cruelly  ?  " 

Then  it  came  to  my  turn  to  answer,  and  I  arose 
and  said,  "Your  case  is  very  deplorable,  and  we  are 
sorry  for  you  indeed,  but  now  we  mast  hud  out  the 
real  facts  in  the  case. 

"  Let  us  then  look  first  at  the  action  of  the  district- 
meeting,  which  you  say  is  the  cause  of  all  your 
calamities.  Whatever  they  did  was  done  in  the  fear 
of  God,  as  your  friends  and  pastors,  and  they  did  not 
anticipate  any  of  the  evils  which  have  befallen  you, 
and  but  few  of  the  things  you  are  suffering  have 
come  from  their  action,  as  I  will  show  you  presently. 
It  is  not  according  to  the  Word  of  God  that  ministers 
of  His  Gospel  should  be  ruling  magistrates  over  a 
great  community,  of  all  sorts  of  sinners,  such  as  are  in 
this  station.  In  establishing  the  Gospel  first  among 
the  heathen  in  Kaffraria,  the  good  men  of  God,  in 
mercy  to  the  people  on  their  stations,  whom  they 
gathered  in  from  among  the  heathen  to  live  with 
the  missionar}',  because  they  were  Christian  people,  or 
earnestly  seekingafter  God,  and  wanted  for  themselves 
and  their  children  a  Christian  education,  exercised 
all  the  authority,  which  they  considered  consistent 
with  their  own  spiritual  mission  and  the  supreme 
authority  of  their  paramount  chiefs,  for  the  protection 
and  proper  training  of  their  people  in  everything 


ST.    PAUL    ON    MISSION-STATIONS.  6(<J 

necessary  to  qualify  them  to  be  good  Christians, 
industrious  workers,  and  good  subjects  of  their  chiefs, 
and  also  to  furnish  to  the  chiefs  themselves  a  model 
of  Christian  government;.  Their  one  great  work 
was  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  bring  souls  to  Christ, 
and  the  magisterial  office  they  consented  to  bear  for 
a  time,  was  an  incidental  thing,  to  be  given  up  in 
due  time  entirely  to  civil  rulers,  whom  God  hath 
ordained  separately  for  that  work,  just  as  ministers 
are  called  separately  for  their  work.  If  the  rulers 
are  unwise  or  wicked  because  of  the  general  wicked- 
ness of  their  subjects,  then  if  God's  people  cannot 
correct  the  bad  government,  nor  readily  escape  from 
the  injustice  they  suffer,  they  must  commit  themselves 
to  God,  and  endure  patiently  what  God  may  permit 
for  the  trial  of  their  faith,  who  will,  if  they  endure 
hardness  as  good  soldiers,  make  all  tilings  work  to- 
gether for  their  good.  £t,  Paul  did  not  gather  a  lot 
of  his  converts,  and  form  a  station  like  this,  and  rule 
over  2,900  rebels  against  God,  for  every  100  believers 
in  his  fold.  No  such  thing.  lie  preached  the  glad 
tidings  to  poor  sinners,  and  when  he  got  them  to 
accept  Christ,  they  would  have  been  glad  enough  to 
have  gone  and  lived  with  their  Umfundisi,  but  what 
did  Paul  say  to  them  ?  '  Let  every  man  abide  in  the 
same  calling  wherein  he  was  c  lied.  Art  thou  called, 
being  a  servant  ?  care  not  for  it ;  but  if  thou  mayest 
be  free,  use  it  rather.  Brethren,  let  every  man 
wherein  he  is  called,  therein  abide  with  God.'  God 
will  be  with  His  people  wherever  they  arc,  and  if 


376  SHAWBURY. — ELUNCUTA. 

God  be  with  them,  and  they  remain  true  to  Ilina, 
He  will  either  deliver  them  from  their  tribulations, 
or  sustain  them  under  them.  That  is  God's  way 
of  spreading  the  Gospel  in  heathen  countries,  and 
in  that  way  we  will  not  grow  sickly,  dwarfish 
Christians,  that  can't  stand  a  blast  of  wind,  but 
healthy,  strong  men,  ready  always  to  do  or  to  die 
for  God.  In  that  way  we  will  not  carry  all  the 
leaven  and  put  it  into  a  pot  by  itself,  but  will 
have  it  distributed  through  the  lump  till  the 
great  mass  of  heathenism  is  leavened.  This  you 
see  is  God's  way.  The  most  of  the  missionaries 
who  have  established  the  mission- stations  and 
nourished  the  people  at  them  so  long,  are  now 
anxious  fully  to  adopt  God's  way.  Here,  at  Shaw- 
bury,  the  missionary  being  responsible  to  his  chief 
for  the  conduct  of  3,000  people,  and  having  to 
settle  all  your  disputes,  what  time  had  he  left  to 
give  to  his  one  great  work  of  leading  the  people  to 
Christ  ? 

"  He  felt  it,  and  the  district-meeting  felt  it,  and 
they  in  love  to  your  souls  thought  it  best  to  release 
him  from  that  work,  that  he  might  devote  his  whole 
time  to  the  work  of  teaching  you  and  your  children 
the  way  to  heaven. 

"There  was  no  war  then,  and  they  could  not  antici- 
pate any  of  the  horrible  things  which  have  since 
come  upon  you. 

"  Now  let  us,  in  the  second  place,  look  at  the  real 
cause  of  your  troubles.     In  the  first  place,  the  most 


WAR   COMPLICATIONS.  877 

of  your  people,  under  the  name  of  being  Christians, 
and  enjoying  all  the  privileges  of  a  mission-station, 
are  notorious  rebels  against  Grod,  and  have  no  right 
to  expect  special  favours  from  God  or  His  people. 
In  the  second  place  you  have  not  kept  your  treaty 
engagements  with  Damasi.  At  the  beginning  of 
this  war,  Damasi,  by  a  special  messenger,  asked  you 
three  questions — 1st.  Are  you  Umhlonhlo's  people, 
or  are  you  not  ?  2nd.  Do  you  intend  to  join  Umh- 
lonhlo  in  fighting  against  me  or  not  ?  3rd.  If  you 
do  not  intend  to  fight  me,  give  me  a  description  of 
your  boundaries,  so  that  I  may  not  pass  over  them 
with  my  armies.  "Was  not  that  so  ?  "  "  Yes,"  re- 
plied the  learned  counsel  on  the  other  side,  "  that 
is  true."  "  Well  now,  in  reply,  you  said,  '  1st.  We 
are  not  Umhlonhlo's  people.  We  are  mission-people, 
but  we  live  in  Umhlonhlo's  country,  and  are  bound 
not  to  break  his  laws.  2nd.  We  will  not  fight 
against  you,  unless  you  cross  our  mission-station 
lines.  3rd.  Our  lines  are  so  and  so,'  and  you  gave 
him  your  boundaries."  "  Is  not  that  true  ?"  "  That 
is  all  true,"  said  Job.  So  far  the  thing  was  all 
honourable  and  fair  on  both  sides.  Now,  if  you  had 
dealt  honourably  with  Damasi,  he  never  would  have 
interfered  with  one  of  you,  and  your  missionary  would 
not  have  been  disturbed,  and  you  would  have  had  his 
influence  all  this  time  to  shield  you  from  the  wicked 
excesses  of  your  chief.  But  what  did  you  do  ?  You 
got  up  a  great  sham  fight  for  a  lark,  and  though 
your  missionary  begged  you  not  to  go  over  the  hill 


378  SHAWBURY.— -TLCNCI/TA, 

toward  the  river,  in  sight  of  Damasi's  soldiers,  you 
went  in  spite  of  him,  and  Damasi's  soldiers  of  course 
thought  you  were  going  out  to  fight  them,  and  put 
themselves  in  battle  array.  Then  Umhlonhlo  to 
help  the  devil  to  ensnare  you,  came  along  and 
ordered  you  to  charge  on  Damasi's  men,  and  when 
you  refused,  you  got  his  ill-will,  and  then  he  ad- 
vanced and  shot  some  of  Damasi's  men  himself,  and 
you  got  the  credit  of  all  that  on  Damasi's  books. 
Though  you  did  not  design  it,  you  thus  did  so  break 
faith  with  Damasi  as  to  put  it  beyond  explanation  to 
him,  and  then  having  gotten  yourselves  into  that 
mess,  you  gave  up  to  Umhlonhlo,  and  have  since 
been  regularly  joined  to  him  in  array  against  Da- 
masi, and  have  not  only  thus  brought  all  this  evil 
upon  yourselves,  but  jeopardized  the  lives  of  your 
missionary,  and  his  wife  and  little  children,  and  im- 
posed upon  him  the  greatest  grief  of  his  life,  the 
necessity  of  leaving  his  work,  and  fleeing  away  to 
a  place  of  safety." 

Then  Elijah  arose  and  said,  "  The  words  of  the 
Umfundisi  are  true  words  ;  but  if  the  district-meet- 
ing felt  it  their  duty  to  make  a  change  of  such  im- 
portance, why  did  they  not  consult  us  first  ?  We 
are  official  members  of  the  Church,  and  we  are  a 
party  directly  interested  in  such  a  change.  More- 
over, as  the  most  of  us  have  been  all  our  lives  on  the 
mission  stations,  and  never  felt  the  rule  of  a  heathen 
chief,  we  should  have  been  notified  in  time  to  pre- 


JOB,    THE    KAFFIR    LAWYER.  379 

pare  our  minds  for  such  a  great  change,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  bear  it  as  good  Christians." 

Then  Brother  White  replied,  saying,  "  On  my  way 
home  from  the  district-meeting,  sometime  before  the 
matter  was  brought  before  Umhlonhlo,  I  told  a  num- 
ber of  your  leading  men  what  the  district-meeting 
had  done,  so  that  you  might  prepare  your  minds  for 
it."  Meantime,  I  saw,  from  the  flash  of  Job's  eyes, 
that  he  considered  us  his  game  after  all.  Up  he 
sprang,  excited,  almost  beyond  self-control ;  but  he 
poised  himself  very  quickly,  and  with  true  Kaffir 
self-possession  and  dignity,  yet  with  great  spirit,  re- 
torted, "  Yes,  you  told  us  what  you  had  done  at  the 
district-meeting  as  you  went  home.  It  was  too  late 
then  for  us  to  have  any  say  in  the  matter.  Why  did 
you  not  tell  us  on  your  way  to  the  meeting,  so  that  we 
might  decide  what  was  best  for  us  to  do.  If  we  had 
known  that  you  were  going  to  give  us  away  to  a 
heathen  chief,  we  might  have  decided  that  it  was 
better  for  us  to  pick  up  our  assegais  and  blankets 
and  go  away  to  some  other  part ;  but  after  we  have 
been  sold  for  nothing,  we  are  coolly  told  that  the  deed 
is  done,  and  that  we  belong  to  a  heathen  master/' 

It  then  came  to  my  turn  to  deliver  the  closing 
speech,  and  I  said  :— 

"I  see  now  how  the  case  stands.  We,  the  district- 
meeting,  confess  that  we  have  made  a  great  mistake  in  not 
giving  you  due  notice  of  our  intention,  and  in  not  consulting 
you,  and  fully  preparing  your  minds  for  such  a  change,  and 


3S0  SHAWBURY. — ELUNCUTA. 

I  think  I  speak  the  sincere  feelings  of  every  member  of  that 
meeting,  when  I  say,  we  are  very  sorry,  and  all  we  have  to 
plead  is,  what  I  have  pleaded,  our  best  intentions  in  doing 
a  necessary  thing  to  be  done,  but  we  should  have  given  you 
notice  of  our  good  intentions.  The  reason,  I  believe,  you 
were  not  notified  and  consulted  is,  that  it  was  not  till  after 
the  meeting  had  assembled,  and  the  ctate  of  the  work  here 
made  known,  that  it  was  felt  necessaiy  at  that  time  to  take 
such  action.  It  was  believed  that  the  missionary  was  so 
burdened  with  magisterial  duties  in  managing  such  a  hard 
lot  that  the  thing  could  not,  in  justice  to  your  souls,  be 
delayed,  and  there  was  then  no  opportunity  of  consulting 
any  of  you  ;  but  now  we  see  that  we  made  a  great  mistake 
in  not  waiting,  to  give  ample  time  for  consultation.  But, 
while  we  confess  to  one  great  mistake,  you  will  have  to  con- 
fess to  two  great  sins,  and  then  we  must  all  humble  ourselves 
before  Goi,  confess  and  forsake  our  sins,  accept  Christ  as 
our  Saviour,  and  ask  God's  gracious  direction  out  of  these 
dreadful  tribulations.  Your  first  great  sin  was  to  go,  in 
spite  of  the  wise  counsel  of  your  missionary,  and  break  your 
solemn  treaty  with  Damasi.  Your  second  great  sin  is,  that 
after  cringing  so  many  evils  on  yourselves,  as  we  have 
shown,  you  have  not  only  justified  yourselves,  and  blamed 
it  all  on  the  district-meeting,  but  have  gone  on  in  greater 
excesses  of  sin,  profaning  this  holy  place  with  Kaffir-beer 
feasts,  quarrelling,  fighting  among  yourselves,  and  have  even 
murdered  a  man,  and  have  not  confessed  your  sins,  nor  re- 
pented. Even  while  we  have  been  here,  who  had  nothing 
to  do  with  any  of  your  matters,  but  came  purely  to  help 
you  in  your  distress  by  leading  you  to  Jesus,  you  have  kept 
up  a  quarrel  in  your  hearts  against  us,  and  have  thus  pre- 
vented a  great  work  of  God,  which  with  your  agency  He 
would  have  done  for  you,  by  us  His  servants,  just  as  He 
has  done  at  other  stations  we  have  visited.     Now  you  must 


PLEADINGS    CLOSED.  881 

have  done  with  Kaffir-beer  feasts,  and  with  beer-drinking 
at  home,  surrender  to  God,  accept  Christ,  and  get  right  in 
your  hearts  and  lives,  and  then  we  may  hope  that  God,  in 
some  way,  will  give  you  relief,  and  spare  your  lives,  that 
you  may  honour  Him  in  the  sight  of  the  heathen.  Mean- 
time, I  have  written  to  Mr.  Shepstone,  the  chairman,  and 
hope  that  he  may  be  able  to  do  something  for  you ;  but 
his  success  depends  on  the  mercy  of  God,  and  that  depends 
on  the  course  you  take  in  regard  to  your  sins." 

Elijah  said  "  These  words  are  true,"  and  pledged 
himself  to  do  the  best  he  could  to  promote  a  real 
reformation.  Job  said  the  same,  and  the  rest  as- 
sented. Then  we  knelt  down  and  submitted  the  whole 
matter  to  God,  and  the  Comforter  was  graciously 
present  to  quicken  and  to  heal.  Our  horses  were 
then  waiting  at  the  door,  and  we  rose  from  our 
knees  and  bade  our  penitent  friends  adieu. 

I  said  to  Brother  White,  as  wTe  passed  out,  "Ah,  if 
we  had  had  that  counsel  on  the  first  day  of  our  series 
here,  instead  of  the  last,  we  would  have  had  a  glorious 
work  of  God."  This  was  the  terrible  incubus  which 
had  strangled  all  our  efforts,  and  added  to  it  was  a 
great  disappointment  growing  out  of  a  mistaken 
apprehension  that  I  was  coming  as  their  missionary 
to  live  among  them,  and  finding  that  I  was  only  to 
be  with  them  three  days,  many  left  in  disgust  ;  but 
if  we  had  had  the  leading  men  with  us,  we  should 
have  overcome  that,  and  had  a  grand  victory.  We 
had  with  us  at  our  services  at  Shawbury,  a  native 
Local  Preacher  from  Natal,  who  had  come  more  than 


382  SHAWI5URY. — ELUNCIITA. 

200  miles  to  visit  his  brother  there,  and  when  we 
left  off,  he  took  up  the  work,  and  we  learned  that  the 
following  Sabbath  he  had  the  chapel  crowded,  and 
the  Spirit  of  God  was  with  him  in  power.  Soon 
after,  two  of  our  missionaries  went  and  gave  them 
a  helping  hand,  which  Rev.  Wm.  Shepstone,  the 
Chairman  of  the  District,  in  a  letter  to  me,  describes 
as  follows  :— 

My  nephew  found  Shawbury  so  impressed  on  bis  mind, 
that  be  could  not  rest,  so  like  the  honest  quakers  of  old,  ho 
yielded,  and  taking  Hunter's  station  in  his  route,  Hunter 
readily  accompanied  him.  They  spent  four  days  at  Shaw- 
bury,  holding  services,  two  or  three  times  a  day,  and  to  use 
Rayner's  words,  "  The  Spirit  of  God  came  down  upon  the 
people,"  and  they  left  about  100  souls  who  had,  during  their 
services,  found  peace  with  God,  and  joined  the  Classes. 
These,  I  believe,  were  all  converts  from  amongst  the  hea- 
then. Last  week  I  received  a  letter  from  Brother  Gedye, 
who  had  returned  thither,  and  is  labouring  with  all  his 
might,  and  he  tells  me  that  since  his  return,  about  forty 
more  have  been  brought  in,  and  that  "  David  Cobus,"  the 
man  who  was  the  devil's  own  agent,  and  the  principal  cause 
of  all  the  Shawbury  troubles,  is  now,  like  Saul  of  earlier 
days,  preaching  the  faith  which  once  be  destroyed,  or  tried 
to.  Gedye  says  be  is  helping  mightily  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord.  That  station  is  now  in  peace  and  quiet.  The  belli- 
gerents fight  around  it,  but  the  people  are  not  disturbed, 
and  not  a  soul  moves  from  the  station  towards  the  battle- 
ground. I  had  written  a  letter  to  Damasi,  on  the  subject 
of  the  neutrality  of  mission-stations  in  war  before  your  letter 
reached  me,  and  obtained  from  him  a  promise  that  the 
missionary  and  all  mission  property  should  be  respected. 


SUDDEN  TURN  OF  EVENTS.  383 

Though  Shawbury  has  been  left  without  a  missionary  at  a 
time  it  most  needed  one,  God  hath  shown  that,  neverthe- 
less, He  can  carry  on  his  work  in  his  own  way.  Umhlonhlo 
has  not  been  to  Shawbury  since  Gedye's  return,  but  has 
sent  a  message  that  they  must  pray,  but  does  not  say  for 
what.  Gedye  thinks  he  means  for  rain,  which  is  the  most 
likely  thing  he  would  wish  to  see. 

A  short  extract  from  a  letter  from  Brother  Gedye, 
published  in  the  Missionary  Notices,  dated  November 
30th,  1866,  a  few  days  after  I  sailed  from  Cape  Town 
for  London,  may  further  illustrate  the  progress  of  this 
work.  "  On  my  return  to  the  station,  a  fortnight 
after," — the  departure  of  Brothers  Rayner  and 
Hunter  noticed  above — "  we  entered  upon  a  course  of 
special  services,  which  resulted  in  about  fifty  con- 
versions during  the  week ;  and  since  then  not  a  week 
has  passed  in  which  conversions  have  not  taken  place; 
so  that  we  are  enabled  to  report  an  addition  of  above 
two  hundred  persons  meeting  in  Class.  I  have  just 
returned  from  the  Tina,  where  the  Lord  has  given 
us  twenty  souls  during  the  past  ten  days,  and  many 
others  are  under  deep  conviction." 


CHAPTER  XXIIX. 

OSBORN    (TSHUMGWANA). 

This  mission-station,  an  offshoot  from  Shawbury, 
was  established  by  Mr.  Hulley,  a  Local  Preacher 
devoted  to  the  work  of  God,  and  for  many  years 
employed  by  the  Missionary  Society,  under  the  title 
of  a  "  Catechist."  He  is  not  in  the  employ  of  the 
Society  now,  but  is  nevertheless  engaged  in  the  mis- 
sion work.  He  hassettled  his  family  on  a  farmnear 
the  west  bank  of  the  TJmzimvubu  River.  His  wife  is 
a  sister  of  Rev.  H.  H.  Dugmore,  and  they  have  an 
interesting  family  of  children.  He  has  built  a  sub- 
stantial hut-chapel,  round,  like  a  Kaffir-hut,  about 
thirty  feet  indiameter,  which  will  accommodate  about 
150  natives.  He  has  organized  there  a  society  of 
natives,  and  preaches  to  a  large  number  of  heathen 
besides,  and  God  is  owning  his  labours.  The  Tshura- 
gwana  Station,  established  and  sustained  for  a  number 
of  years  under  his  administration,  was  called  Osborn, 
in  honour  of  Dr.  Osborn,  so  long  and  so  favourably 
known  as  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Wesleyan 
Missionary  Society. 


TERRIBLE    BATTLE.  385 

Rev.  Charles  White,  the  present  missionary  at 
Osborn,  brother  to  Mrs.  Rev.  Thomas  Jenkins,  and 
to  Mr.  Alfred  White,  who  was  the  Lord's  leading 
agent  to  induce  me  to  go  into  those  Kaffrarian  adven- 
tures, is  with  Brothers  Shepstone,  Dugmore,  Sargent, 
Bertram,  and  others,  a  Colonial-made  minister,  and 
none  the  worse  for  that,  as  the  record  of  each  one  will 
show.  The  Osborn  Station  belongs  to  the  Amabaca 
tribe,  but  like  Shawbury,  is  situated  near  the  borders 
of  the  great  Amapondo  nation,  who  are  at  war  with 
the  Amabaca,  and  it  is  therefore  greatly  exposed  to  the 
ravages  of  war.  But  a  few  weeks  before  our  arrival, 
a  large  army  of  Faku's  warriors  came,  variously 
estimated  from  5,000  to  8,000  men,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Faku's  son,  Umgikela.  As  this  army  pene- 
trated the  heart  of  the  country,  the  Bacas  fled  before 
them,  and  the  warriors  were  busily  employed  in 
gathering  up  all  the  live  stock  within  their  reach, 
till  they  got  neai  to  the  Great  Place  of  the  ruling 
chief,  Makaula.  Tiba  is  nominally  the  paramount 
chief  of  the  tribe,  but  his  residence  is  in  "  Noman's- 
land,"  which  was  given,  as  before  shown,  to  Adam 
Kok,  the  Griqua,  who  has  laid  Tiba  under  tribute, 
the  mass  of  his  tribe  living  beyond  Kok's  lines  are 
free,  and  hence  Tiba,  though  not  deposed,  has  lost 
prestige,  and  Makaula  is  in  fact  the  ruling  chief, 
and  being  a  young,  brave  spirited  man,  he  succeeded 
in  rallying  his  surprised  and  scattered  people,  and 
in  person  led  them  to  the  charge  against  the  in- 
vaders, and  after  a  severe  hand-to-hand  fight  with 

cc 


386  OSBOItN. — TSIIUMUWANA. 

their  assegais,  the  Pondos  began  to  give  way,  and 
soon  in  utter  confusion  and  panic  they  retreated. 
They  had  to  run  ten  miles  to  get  to  the  Umzimvubu 
River,  the  boundary  of  their  own  country.  The 
Bacas,  flushed  with  victory,  pursued,  and  strewed 
the  route  for  ten  miles  with  the  dead  bodies  of  their 
foes.  The  mission-station  was  in  their  path,  and  on 
the  approach  of  the  retreating  army,  the  mission- 
people  in  the  excitement  fearing  an  attack  on  the 
station,  turned  out  in  a  body,  in  spite  of  the  remon- 
strance of  their  missionary,  and  poured  a  deadly 
volley  in  the  front  of  the  fleeing  foe,  which  brought 
them  for  a  little  time  to  a  stand,  and  the  slaughter 
was  fearful.  A  Brother  Lee  had  a  trading-station 
near,  and  the  entrance  to  his  house  was  blocked  up 
with  the  bodies  of  the  slain.  One  poor  Pondo  dashed 
himself  through  a  window  of  the  room,  occupied  by 
Mrs.  Lee,  with  such  violence  as  to  cut  an  artery  of 
his  arm  on  the  glass,  and  down  he  dropped  beside  the 
frightened  lady,  and  without  saying  a  word  bled  to 
death.  A  room  of  the  mission-house,  with  an  outer 
entrance,  which  happened  to  be  open,  was  packed  with 
Pondos,  and  Brother  White  stood  at  the  door  to  shield 
them  from  the  assegais  of  the  Bacas.  The  pursuers 
came  on  in  the  rage  of  their  human  slaughter,  and 
demanded  access  to  the  refugees  in  the  room,  but  Mr. 
White  said  to  them,  "  These  men  have  placed  their 
lives  in  my  hands,  and  if  you  want  them  you  will 
have  to  pass  over  my  dead  body."  The  Bacas  seemed 
to  think  it  hard  that  their  own  missionary  should 
thus  protect  their  enemies,  but  he  taught  them  an  ex.- 


"  LET    ME    LIE    STILL    AND    DIE."  387 

ample  of  forbearance  and  of  justice  to  a  fallen  foe. 
That  act,  too,  helped  to  mitigate  the  violation  of  the 
neutrality  laws  of  the  mission-stations,  of  which  his 
people  were  guilty.  He  gave  sanctuary  to  his  pri- 
soners that  night,  and  sent  them  home  in  peace  the 
next  morning.  The  army  of  the  Pondos  were  pur- 
sued to  the  Umzimvubu,  and  many  were  slain  in  the 
river,  but  the  Bacas  did  not  pass  over  into  Pondo-land. 

The  Pondo  army,  to  assist  their  flight,  threw  away 
nearhy  everything  they  had.  Among  the  spoils  were 
numerous  shields  and  assegais,  and  seven  hundred 
guns,  of  which  it  appears  they  had  made  but  little 
use.  Between  four  and  five  hundred  Pondos  were 
killed.  Though  they  fled  for  life,  when  caught  they 
died  like  stoics.  For  example,  an  old  Pondo  lay 
apparently  dead,  and  a  Baca  exclaimed,  "  I  killed 
him  !  "  "  No,"  said  another  Baca,  "  I  killed  him." 
With  that  the  old  Pondo  opened  his  eyes,  and  said, 
"  You  are  both  liars ;  neither  of  you  killed  me  ! " 
Then  the  two  merciless  wretches  took  up  stones  and 
battered  out  his  brains.  Brother  Lee,  to  clear  his 
premises  of  dead  Pondos,  looped  a  "  reim," — a  raw 
hide- rope — round  their  necks,  and  dragged  them 
away,  and  as  he  was  about  to  put  the  reim  round  the 
neck  of  one  of  the  dead  men,  the  corpse,  as  he  sup- 
posed, opened  his  eyes  and  said,  "  Do  please  let  me 
lie  still  and  die." 

The  Kaffirs  never  bury  their  dead  who  are  slain 
in  battle ;  the  dogs,  pigs,  wild  beasts,  and  birds  of 
prey  did  what  they  could  to  prevent  effluvia  and 
pestilence,  by  devouring  their  flesh,  and  the  bones 


388  OSBORN. — TSIIUMGWANA. 

of  their  carcasses  lay  bleaching  in  the  sun  when  we 
were  there,  a  heart-sickening  sight  indeed.  We 
had  come  as  warriors  too,  had  come  to  conquer,  not 
to  spoil  and  destroy,  but  to  proclaim  a  life-giving 
Deliverer  to  the  dead  souls  of  the  savage  warriors 
still  alive. 

We  left  Shawbury  on  Friday  the  17th  of  August. 
We  out-spanned  at  Tina,  the  out-station  at  which 
Umhlonhlo  committed  the  outrage  before  mentioned. 
We  inquired  of  "  Nicodemus,"  the  head  man,  who 
had  been  a  Class-leader  there,  but  whose  society  had 
been  broken  up  during  the  recent  troubles,  if  the 
charge  made  against  Umhlonhlo  was  so,  and  he 
affirmed  that  it  was  all  true  that  we  had  heard. 

Stuart  thus  briefly  describes  the  rest  of  our 
journey  that  day  : — 

Soon  after  we  crossed  the  Tina  river,  we  came  to  a  very 
steep  and  stony  hill,  where  one  of  the  horses  became 
baulky,  and  seemed  determined  not  to  pull  up  the  hill,  and 
could  not  be  persuaded,  neither  by  coaxing  nor  the  free  use 
of  the  whip.  After  many  unsuccessful  attempts  to  get  the 
beast  up  the  hill  at  the  great  risk  of  breaking  the  cart,  we 
put  in  another  horse,  which,  going  to  the  opposite  extreme, 
dashed  off,  ran  the  upper  wheel  over  a  great  stone,  and 
upset  the  whole  concern.  By  carrying  our  baggage  up  on 
our  shoulders,  we  at  length,  after  the  delay  of  an  hour, 
reached  the  summit ;  and  passing  through  a  beautiful, 
fertile,  well  watered  country,  reached  the  Osborn  station 
just  as  the  sun  was  setting. 

Rev.  Mr.  White,  the  missionary,  and  his  good  wife 
kindly  entertained  us.  They  have  no  family,  but  have 
adopted  a  little  prince,  the  son  of  Makaula.     The  little  boy 


SINGING    OUT   THE    NATIVES.  3S9 

was  very  ill,  the  heathen  doctors  could  do  him  no  good, 
and  when  the  chief  thought  he  was  dying,  he  brought  him 
to  the  missionary  and  said,  "  Take  my  dying  child.  If  he 
dies,  bury  him ;  if  he  lives,  take  care  of  him  and  teach 
him."  He  is  now  a  fat  little  fellow  over  two  years  old. 
He  is  very  fond  of  shaking  hands,  and  is  delighted  with  the 
ticking  of  a  watch,  and  seems  to  understand  such  English  as 
is  addressed  to  him,  for  when  we  tell  him  to  shut  his  eyes,  and 
then  to  open  them,  or  to  laugh,  he  does  so,  and  altogether 
he  is  a  very  comical  little  specimen  of  Kaffir  humanity. 

One  embarrassment  under  which  we  had  laboured 
in  each  place,  in  regard  to  the  heathen,  was  that 
they  seldom  came  to  our  services  till  near  the  close 
of  the  series,  and  we  did  not  then  have  sufficient 
time  to  do  a  great  work  among  them. 

At  Osborn  we  determined  to  try  a  new  plan  for 
getting  them  out  to  the  preaching.  So  on  Saturday 
morning,  the  18th  of  August,  Charles  Roberts,  Stuart, 
and  myself,  with  "Petros,"  Brother  White's  school- 
teacher, as  a  guide,  set  out  on  horseback,  and  visited 
all  the  heathen  kraals  within  a  few  miles  of  the  station. 

We  rode  up  to  a  kraal,  and  called  to  them,  say- 
ing, "  Bring  out  all  your  men,  women,  and  children, 
and  we  will  sing  you  a  song  about  the  country 
above."  We  then  dismounted,  and  standing  in  a 
line,  holding  the  reins  of  our  horses  behind  us,  we 
sang  in  Kaffir,  "  The  Eden  Above." 

Then  without  adding  a  word  we  mounted  and 
rode  off,  leaving  Charles  to  tell  them  that  a  new 
Umfundisi  from  over  the  sea  had  just  arrived,  and 


390  OSBORN. — TSIIUMGWANA. 

had  just  been  to  pay  them  a  visit,  and  sing  to  them, 
and  would  preach  at  the  station  that  day  at  noon, 
and  "  he  wants  all  of  you  to  come  and  hear  the  good 
news  he  has  to  tell  you."  Then  riding  on  to  another 
kraal,  the  same  was  repeated,  and  so  on  till  all  with- 
in our  reach  were  visited.  In  some  places  some  of 
the  men  followed  us  to  their  neighbouring  kraal,  so 
that  I  could  see  at  once  that  we  were  getting  a  hold 
on  them.  Sure  enough,  at  noon  we  had  the  heathen 
to  our  meeting  in  force.  The  chapel  would  not  hold 
the  half  of  them  ;  so  we  assembled  them  in  the  stable- 
yard,  which,  with  various  buildings  of  four  sides, 
was  a  large  open  court.  The  first  sermon,  there- 
fore, instead  of  being  to  the  Church  as  usual,  was  to 
the  heathen,  from  St.  Paul's  text  about  the  "  Un- 
known God."  Having  given  a  very  brief  history  of 
St.  Paul's  work  among  the  people  in  the  great  city 
of  Athens,  we  came  directly  to  our  work. 

We  did  not  simply  proclaim  the  truths  of  the 
Gospel  to  them,  for  the  work  of  an  ambassador  for 
Christ  embraces  much  more  than  that,  but  followed 
St.  Paul's  method.  He  never  "  begged  the  question.' 
In  preaching  to  the  Jews,  he  based  his  arguments  on 
the  clearly  defined  prophetic  Scriptures,  which  his 
hearers  admitted.  In  preaching  to  heathens  he  went 
directly  down  into  the  regions  of  their  own  experi- 
ence, and  brought  to  light,  from  their  admitted  facts, 
a  conscious  demand  in  their  souls  which  they  were 
vainly  trying  to  meet,  but  which  the  Gospel  only 
could  supply.     If  I  could  reproduce  our  discourses  to 


SERMON  TO  THE  HEATHEN.         391 

the  heathen  there  during  our  series  of  three  days, 
my  space  would  not  admit  them  ;  hut  the  suhstance 
of  the  first,  and  a  specimen  point  or  two  of  the 
others  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  method  of  preach- 
ing, which  the  Spirit  of  God  was  pleased  to  render 
very  effective  in  the  salvation  of  a  large  number  of 
our  heathen  hearers. 

At  that  first  service,  having  introduced  the  subject 
of  the  "  Unknown  God,"  the  following  is  an  example 
of  our  method  of  preaching,  which  God  used  in  bring- 
ing raw  heathens  to  a  saving  acceptance  of  Christ, 
under  a  single  discourse. 

SERMON    TO    KAFFIR    HEATHENS. 

There  is  one  Great  God  who  made  the  world,  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars,  and  every  living  thing  ;  and  who  made 
man.  That  is  a  fact  you  all  admit.  Your  old  fathers  who 
are  dead  believed  that,  and  you  believe  it  too.  Your 
fathers  called  him  "  Dala,"  the  Creator,  or  "  the  Great 
Hole,"  out  of  which  all  living  things  came  ;  and  they  called 
him  Tixo,  God,  the  preserver  of  all  things  ;  and  "  Inkosi," 
the  Lord,  the  Great.  Chief  who  rules  all  things.  They  did 
not  know  God,  but  they  called  Him  by  these  names,  and 
offered  sacrifices  of  worship  to  him,  and  on  many  a  hill  in 
Africa,  your  "  Isivivana  "  bear  witness  that  they  called  upon 
His  name  (we  saw  by  the  path  in  a  number  of  places  on 
the  hills  a  great  pile  of  hand  stones,  about  eight  by  sixteen 
feet,  and  six  feet  high.  For  generations,  every  heathen 
passing  will  add  a  stone,  as  an  expression  of  thanks  to 
"  Inkosi  "  for  helping  him  up  the  hill). 

You  then  believe  with  us  that  there  is  one  God,  and  that 
vie  are  "  His  offspring.' '  Come  then  and  let  us  reason  together 
about  this  Great  God.     If  He  made  the  sea,  the  earth,  and 


392  OSBORN. — TSIIUMGW1KA. 

the  heavens  ahove  us,  He  must  be  a  God  of  wonderful  power. 
When  His  lightnings  flash  and  He  speaks  to  you  from  His 
"  Great  Place  "  above  the  heavens  in  tones  of  thunder,  how 
you  do  tremble.  Now,  if  we  are  the  offspring  of  this  Great 
God,  which  you  all  admit,  let  us  examine  His  work,  and 
see  if  He  is  not  a  God  of  love,  as  well  as  a  God  of  power. 
Examine  your  heads,  your  eyes,  your  noses,  your  ears,  your 
tongues,  your  teeth,  your  arms,  hands,  body,  legs,  and  feet — 
what  a  wonderful  piece  of  work !  Everything  about  us 
witnesses,  not  only  to  the  power  and  wisdom  of  God,  but  to 
His  great  love  for  us.  If  he  had  hated  us,  and  had  wanted 
to  make  us  miserable,  how  easily  he  could  have  done  it. 
Suppose  lie  had  made  your  ears  of  bone,  they  would  have 
been  knocked  off  long  ago.  Suppose  he  had  put  your  eyes 
on  the  top  of  your  heads,  then  you  coidd  not  see  the  path; 
if  He  had  put  them  on  your  forehead,  long  ago  they  would 
have  been  rubbed  off,  and  you  would  be  blind  ;  but  God,  in 
love,  has  put  them  in  the  best  place  for  seeing,  arched  them 
over  with  eyebrows  to  keep  the  sweat  out  of  them,  given 
us  eye-lids  to  keep  them  moist,  and  guard  them  against 
dust,  and  walled  them  round  with  bones,  so  that  a  stroke  on 
your  face  will  not  easily  reach  the  eye  ;  so  with  every  other 
part  of  your  bodies,  everything  is  made  just  right,  and  all 
bear  witness  that  the  God  who  made  us  is  a  God  of  love. 
Well  now,  my  dear  friends,  this  wonderful  body  God  has 
given  us  is  simply  the  "  hut "  for  the  living  Spirit  which 
He  has  put  into  it.  If  the  tent  is  such  a  wonderful  thing, 
what  must  the  tenant  be  ?  When  you  look  upon  a  dead  man, 
you  see  the  whole  body  as  complete  as  when  he  was  alive  ;  but 
it  has  no  power  to  see,  to  eat,  to  smell,  to  think  or  to  move. 
The  fact  is,  the  real  man  has  gone  away,  it  is  his  old  "  hut," 
that  you  are  looking  at,  and  soon  it  will  crumble  into  dust. 
You  all  know  that  you  have  a  spirit,  a  mind,  a  living 
soul  within  your  body,  just  as  certainly  as  you  know  that 


SERMON  TO   THE    IIKATHEH.  393 

you  have  a  body.  It  is  the  spirit  that  thinks,  reasons, 
plans,  and  executes  our  plans.  You  can  at  this  moment, 
in  your  minds,  see  your  kraals,  all  your  huts,  your  corn- 
fields, your  cattle,  your  children  and  dogs.  What  is  it 
that  sees  all  these  things  ?  You  don't  see  them  with  your 
eyes,  for  you  are  looking  at  me,  and  your  kraals  are  away 
over  the  hills,  quite  out  of  your  sight,  but  you  have  the 
picture  of  all  these  things  in  your  minds.  If  you  want  to 
build  a  hut,  the  plan  of  the  hut,  its  size  and  everything 
about  it,  is  first  the  work  of  your  spirit.  If  an  Englishman 
wants  to  build  a  great  ship,  he  first  works  out  the  whole 
plan  of  it  in  his  mind,  then  marks  it  all  down  on  paper. 
The  ship-builders  look  at  it,  and  go  to  work  and  make  the 
ship,  just  as  the  man  saw  it  all  in  his  mind. 

Now,  my  dear  friends,  the  God  who  made  us  is  the 
Great  Spirit  without  a  body,  or  hut,  like  ours,  to  live  in, 
for  all  the  heavens  will  not  contain  Him  ;  but  He  has  made 
us  little  spirits  in  His  "  own  image,"  after  His  "  own  like- 
ness," and  has  given  us  these  huts  of  clay  to  live  in  till  He 
calls  our  spirits  to  return  to  Him,  and  then  they  leave  their 
huts,  which  are  the  dead  men  which  you  have  seen,  and  go 
away  into  another  world.  Our  spirits  are  suited  to  this 
world  through  the  body  ;  they  employ  themselves  in  plan- 
ning and  working  for  the  body,  and  take  pleasure  in  what- 
ever is  pleasing  to  the  body  ;  but  our  spirits  don't  belong 
to  this  world,  and  hence  have  wants  that  this  world  can't 
supply.  You  see  a  fish,  it  has  fins,  but  no  legs,  and  no 
wings,  and  you  know  at  once  that  it  don't  belong  to  the 
earth,  nor  to  the  air,  but  its  home  is  in  the  waters.  There 
is  a  horse.  You  see  that  he  has  no  fins,  and  no  wings, 
but  he  has  legs  and  feet,  and  you  know  at  once  that  he 
don't  belong  to  the  air,  nor  to  the  sea,  but  to  the  earth. 
There  flies  a  bird.  You  see  it  has  no  fins,  but  it  has  wings 
and  legs,  and  you  know  without  anybody  telling  you,  that 


394  OSBORN. — TSIIUMGWANA. 

it  belongs  to  the  earth,  and  to  the  air  above  us.  You  see 
a  man's  body,  it  has  legs  and  feet,  and,  therefore,  belongs 
to  the  earth ;  but  his  spirit  has  no  fins,  no  legs,  no  wings, 
and,  therefore,  don't  belong  to  the  waters,  nor  to  the  earth, 
nor  to  the  air  above  us,  but  belongs  to  another  world 
altogether.  You  know  at  once  that  this  is  all  true,  and 
hence  when  you  bury  a  man,  after  you  set  him  down  in  his 
grave,  you  say  to  his  "  umshologu  " — his  spirit — "  don't 
say  anything  against  us,  but  remember  us  kindly  in  that 
world  you  are  going  to."  (The  eyes  of  our  heathen  auditors 
sparkle  under  the  light  of  a  new  association  of  admitted 
facts,  and  they  look  at  each  other,  and  nod  assent,  for 
like  the  Athenians  they  are  always  ready  "  to  hear  or  tell 
some  new  thing.")  Well,  now,  my  friends,  you  see  that 
our  spirits  belong  to  another  world,  and  have  wants  thai 
this  world  cannot  supply.  When  we  have  taken  all  the 
pleasure  we  can  get  in  this  life,  our  spirits  are  still  hungry, 
very  hungry.  They  are  always  wanting  to  go  somewhere, 
or  to  do  something  else  to  satisfy  their  great  hunger  and 
thirst,  and  to  make  themselves  happy. 

All  animals  have  some  kind  of  a  spirit,  but  it  is  a  low, 
earthy  spirit,  which  seeks  nothing  more  than  to  supply  the 
wants  of  their  bodies,  and  then  their  happiness  is  complete ; 
but  our  spirits,  as  we  have  shown,  belong  to  another  world, 
and  have  powers  suited  to  the  world  to  which  they  belong, 
which  we  know,  just  as  we  know  that  the  wings  of  a  bird 
suit  it  for  flying  in  the  air.  That  pig  has  some  sort  of  a 
low  spirit,  but  you  can't  teach  him  your  laws  and  customs. 
He  has  not  the  power  to  learn  to  read,  or  write,  or  to  talk. 
Our  spirits  have  the  power  to  receive  and  to  give  instruc- 
tion, to  learn  good  laws,  and  to  obey  them,  or  to  break 
them,  and  hence,  also,  we  have  a  power  in  our  own  spirits 
which  tells  us  that  some  things  are  right,  and  that  we 
ought  to  do  them,  and  that  some  things  are  wrong,  and 


SERMON  TO   THE    HEATHEN.  395 

that  we  ought  not  to  do  them.  If  we  do  what  we  believe 
is  right,  that  power  in  our  spirits  says  to  us,  "  You  have 
done  right,"  and  we  feel  happy ;  but  when  we  do  wrong,  it 
gays  to  us,  "  You  are  wicked,  you  have  broken  the  law ;  " 
then  we  feel  guilty  and  miserable,  an  awful  fear  comes  into 
sur  spirits  that  something  dreadful  will  come  upon  us  for 
our  sius.  So  you  see  plain  enough,  my  friends,  that  our 
ipiritp  belong  to  another  world  ;  that  they  were  made  to  be 
happy,  ?nd  though  they  have  some  happiness  in  the  plea- 
sures of  the  body,  they  cannot  find  their  real  rest  and  full 
enjoyment  in  anything  in  this  world.  God  alone  has  the 
real  rest  for  our  souls,  and  He  alone  can  satisfy  the  hunger 
and  thirst  of  our  spirits.  God  is  holy,  and  He  made  our 
spirits  holy,  so  that  they  might  live  with  God,  and  find 
their  rest,  and  complete  happiness  in  Him.  Hence  our 
spirits  are  adapted  to  receive  and  obey  God's  laws,  which 
show  us  the  right  way  to  walk  in,  so  that  we  may  be  ready 
to  live  with  God  when  He  calls  our  spirits  away  from  our 
bodies.  But  you  see,  we  may  abuse  this  power  of  our 
spirits,  and  neglect,  and  break  good  laws,  bring  guilt  and 
misery  into  our  spirits,  and  thus  get  them  so  polluted  with 
sin,  that  they  are  not  fit  to  live  with  God  at  all.  What, 
then,  can  God  do  with  such  wicked,  polluted  spirits?  He 
has  to  "  throw  them  away"  (the  Kaffirs'  strongest  term  for 
hopeless  abandonment),  and  they  are  dragged  down  into 
the  dark  hole  where  "  Icanti "  lives  (an  infernal  um- 
shologu,  which  assumes  the  shape  of  a  huge  snake ;  they 
often  try  to  appease  it  by  offering  the  sacrifice  of  beasts, 
throwing  their  offerings  into  deep  holes  in  the  rivers — a 
traditional  idea  of  the  devil,  no  doubt),  the  wicked 
spirit,  the  old  serpent,  called  the  devil — and  Satan  was  once 
a  happy  spirit,  and  might  have  dwelt  in  happiness  with 
God  for  ever;  but  he  broke  good  laws,  polluted  himself  by 
sin,  and  was  driven  away  from  God's  fold  like  a  "scabby 


396  OSBOllN. — TSIIUMOWANA. 

gnat "  never  to  return.  So  all  spirits,  made  to  be  holy, 
and  to  live  in  happiness  with  God,  who  follow  Satan,  break 
good  laws,  and  pollute  themselves  with  sin,  are  driven 
away  also  from  God's  fold  to  "  the  place  prepared  for  the 
devil  and  his  angels." 

Well  now,  my  friends,  we  have  been  looking  at  God's 
great  work  in  our  bodies  and  spirits.  Let  us  next  look 
into  His  great  stores,  and  see  what  His  wisdom  and  love 
have  provided  to  make  us  happy.  We  will  begin  with  the 
wants  of  the  body.  Our  bodies  can't  live  without  water. 
See  God's  rills,  and  rivulets,  and  creeks,  and  rivers.  See 
His  clouds  and  dews,  and  showers  of  rain.  How  kind 
He  is! 

Our  bodies  need  food.  Hath  God  not  given  you  a  thou- 
sand grassy  hills  and  valleys,  and  strong  arms  to  cultivate 
them,  and  horses  and  oxen  to  help  you  ?  Hath  He  not 
given  you  Kaffir-corn,  mealies,  yams,  pumpkins,  and  all 
manner  of  fruits?  Hath  He  not  given  you  cattle,  sheep, 
goats,  pigs,  ducks,  chickens,  and  geese?  Where  did  you 
get  all  these  things  if  God  did  not  give  them  to  you  ?  All 
the  men  in  the  world  could  not  even  make  one  goose. 

We  need  light  for  our  eyes,  and  hath  not  God  made  the 
sun  to  give  us  light  by  day,  and  the  moon  and  stars  to  give 
us  light  by  night  ? 

We  need  air  for  our  lungs  and  blood,  and  hath  not  God 
supplied  it  abundantly  ?  He  hath  poured  it  all  round  the 
world  about  fifty  miles  deep.  Now  if  God  provides  such 
great  treasures  for  our  bodies  in  this  life,  which  must  return 
to  dust,  would  He  not  provide  as  well  for  our  spirits,  which 
never  die,  but  return  to  God  who  gave  them  ?  Would  He 
not  give  us  His  good  laws  to  mark  out  the  path  of  holiness, 
that  we  may  walk  in  obedience  to  Him,  and  thus  be 
prepared  to  dwell  with  Him  in  happiness?  Would  He 
not/      (Their  eyes  glance  at  each    other,  and  they  nod 


SERMON  TO   THE    HEATHEN.  81)7 

assent.)  Well,  now,  God  hath  made  us  all  of  one  blood. 
We  have  bodies  just  alike  in  all  their  parts,  and  our  spirits 
are  all  of  the  same  nature.  God  made  one  man,  and  called 
his  name  Adam,  and  then  made  one  woman,  and  called  her 
name  Eve.  He  made  their  bodies  of  the  dust  of  the 
ground,  but  their  spirits  He  breathed  into  from  Him- 
self. Eve  was  the  first  mother  of  all  the  people  in  the 
world.  God  made  Adam  and  Eve  holy,  and  gave  them  a 
"great  place"  in  the  most  beautiful  garden  that  ever  was 
made,  called  the  Garden  of  Eden.  It  had  in  it  every  good 
thing  that  grows  in  the  world,  and  God  gave  every- 
thing in  it  to  the  happy  people  He  had  made,  except  one 
fruit-tree  He  kept  for  Himself,  and  told  them  not  to  touch 
the  fruit  of  His  tree ;  and  He  gave  them  good  laws  for 
them,  and  all  their  children  to  keep,  so  as  to  get  in  this 
beautiful  world  the  right  kind  of  schooling  to  prepare  them 
to  dwell  in  happiness  with  God  for  ever. 

His  laws  were  all  for  their  good,  and  allowed  them  every- 
thing they  needed  for  their  bodies,  and  for  their  spirits  to 
make  them  happy  in  this  life,  and  then,  when  they  should 
be  trained  and  prepared  for  a  better  home,  to  take  them  up 
to  that  glorious  world  where  God  abides.  Was  it  not  a 
fine  arrangement  for  Adam  and  Eve,  and  for  all  their 
descendants?  Oh,  if  they  had  walked  in  the  path  of  God's 
laws,  there  never  would  have  been  any  sickness  in  this  world, 
nor  pain,  nor  sorrow,  nor  crying,  nor  death.  Then  when- 
ever they  should  have  become  holy  enough  to  dwell  with  God, 
their  bodies,  instead  of  dying  and  returning  to  dust,  would 
have  been  changed  into  such  a  glorious  body,  that  instead 
of  walking  and  running  on  the  ground,  they  would  have 
mounted  up  faster  than  the  flight  of  an  eagle  to  the  bright 
world  above.  God  was  well  known  to  our  first  parents, 
and  came  down  and  talked  with  them  in  their  beautiful 
garden  every  day.      oatan  never  was  a  human  spirit,  out  a 


898  OSBORN. — TSIIUMGWANA. 

glorious  angel  spirit,  but  he  became  a  rebel  from  God,  and 
was  "  thrown  away,"  a  long  time  before  Adam  and  Eve 
were  made,  and  he  was  jealous  of  the  happiness  of  our  first 
parents,  so  he  crawled  into  their  beautiful  garden,  and  had 
a  talk  with  our  mother,  and  persuaded  her  to  disobey  God, 
and  she  plucked  off  some  of  the  fruit  from  God's  tree,  which 
He  told  her  she  must  not  eat,  and  she  ate  some,  and  gave 
some  to  Adam,  and  he  did  eat.  By  listening  to  the  dirty  old 
"  Icanti,"  they  broke  God's  good  laws,  stole  fruit  from  His 
tree,  and  thus  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  death  by  sin. 
Sin  is  such  a  dreadful  thing,  that  through  their  disobedi- 
ence all  their  children  were  made  sinners,  that  is,  sin  so 
corrupted  their  spirits  and  their  bodies,  that  all  who  were 
born  of  them  were  corrupt. 

Then  God  drove  them  out  of  the  garden,  and  they  had  to 
go  and  make  a  "kraal"  among  the  briers  and  thorns. 
Still  God  was  very  sorry  for  them,  and  showed  them  great 
kindness  in  giving  to  them  and  their  children  all  the  good 
things  in  this  world  Ave  have  to  enjoy,  and  He  promised 
some  day  to  raise  up  a  great  man  from  one  of  the  daugh- 
ters of  Eve,  who  would  crush  the  head  of  the  old  serpent, 
and  deliver  us  from  our  sins.  The  children  of  Adam  and 
Eve  multiplied  in  the  earth  greatly,  but  broke  God's  laws 
more  and  more,  and  got  so  wicked  that  they  "did  not  like 
to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge,  and  at  last  the  old  fathers 
who  knew  God  died,  and  the  foolish  hearts  of  their  children 
were  so  darkened  by  sin  that  they  did  not  know  God  at  all, 
but  still  they  had  the  gnawing  hunger  and  thirst  in  their 
spirits  which  God  only  can  satisfy.  They  retained  their 
powers  of  mind  to  receive  instruction,  to  learn  God's  laws, 
and  also  a  dreadful  sense  of  guilt  for  sin :  so  when  any 
great  sickness  came  upon  them,  and  their  doctors  could  do 
them  no  good,  they  wanted  to  go  to  God  for  help,  but  they 
did  not  know  Him,     Then  they  built  great  houses,   and 


SERMON  TO    THE    HEATHEN.  399 

altars  of  stone,  where  they  offered  bullocks  in  sacrifice  to 
"  Imishologu."  In  Athens  they  had  one  old  Umshologu 
they  called  "  Jupiter,"  and  another  they  called  "  Minerva," 
and  many  others.  When  nothing  ailed  them  they  seemed 
to  get  on  well  enough  with  their  Imishologu,  but  a  dreadful 
sickness  came  upon  all  the  people  in  their  great  city :  then 
they  offered  bullocks  to  all  their  "  Imishologu,"  but  none 
was  found  to  hear  or  save  them.  The  cries  of  the  orphan 
children,  the  shrieks  of  the  desolate  widows,  the  groans 
of  dying  men  were  heard  in  every  street,  and  they  found 
Imishologu  had  no  power  to  help  them,  and  then  they  built 
an  altar  for  the  "  Unknown  God,"  and  offered  bullocks 
upon  it,  and  as  soon  as  the  smoke  of  that  altar  began  to 
rise,  the  great  God  looked  down  upon  them  in  pity,  His 
heart  of  love  yearned  over  them,  and  His  hand,  unseen, 
cured  all  their  sickness,  and  health  and  prosperity  returned 
to  that  city  like  the  breaking  of  the  morning.  Then  for 
six  hundred  years,  though  they  kept  up  the  worship  of 
Imishologu,  they  also  worshipped  the  "  Unknown  God." 

Sin  is  the  cause  of  this  dreadful  pollution  of  our  spirits, 
and  guilt,  and  fear,  and  sorrow,  which  the  people  of 
Athens  felt,  and  which  all  of  us  have  felt.  That  man  who 
has  sinned,  even  against  his  chief,  how  badly  he  feels. 
Before  he  did  it  he  thought  nobody  would  find  it  out,  but 
now  he  thinks  that  everybody  will  know  it,  and  every  time 
he  goes  into  a  dark  hollow,  or  passes  a  bush,  he  fears  the 
chief's  "  Imisila"  (sheriffs)  will  come  upon  him.  Day  and 
night  he  is  in  dread,  and  if  he  should  wake  up  to-morrow 
morning,  and  find  the  tiger's-tail  of  his  chief  before  his 
door,  dear  me,  would  he  not  be  terrified  ?  Perhaps  his  chief 
might  not  find  him  out,  but  you  may  be  sure  God  will  find 
out  every  sinner,  for  He  is  always  looking  at  us.  The 
pollution  of  our  spirits,  sin,  guilt,  and  punishment,  natu- 
rally follow   each   other.     When  the  lightning    strikes  a 


400  OSBOKN. — TSIIUMGWANA. 

kraal,  and  kills  a  beast  or  a  man,  you  feel  awful  guilt  and 
fear  in  your  spirits,  and  know  that  "  Inkosi "  is  angry  with 
you  for  your  sins,  then  you  offer  sacrifice  to  Him,  but 
still  you  don't  know  "  Inkosi."  When  you  have  great 
sickness  among  you,  then  you  feci  dreadful  guilt  and  fear, 
and  offer  sacrifices  to  "  Imishologu."  You  know  that 
"  Imishologu  "  can't  save  you,  but  you  want  them  to  plead 
with  Tixo  for  you.  You  don't  know  Tixo,  but  as  He  took 
away  the  sickness  in  Athens,  so  He  often  takes  away  your 
sickness  because  He  pities  you,  but  still  you  know  Him 
not,  and  you  give  all  the  praise  due  to  Him  for  His  great 
mercies  to  you  to  Imishologu,  and  to  your  priests.  That 
is  just  the  way  they  did  in  Athens,  till  Paul,  God's  great 
Umfundisi,  went  there,  and  made  known  to  them  the  true 
God,  whom  they  had  ignorantly  worshipped,  and  taught 
them  how  to  worship  Him  aright.  So  you  have  been  trying 
for  more  than  six  hundred  years  to  worship  the  "  Unknown 
God  "  here  in  Africa,  and  now  God  hath  sent  us  to  make 
Him  known  to  you,  and  how  you  may  come  to  Him. 

We  have  told  you  how  the  early  generations  from  Adam 
and  Eve  lost  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  His  good  laws ; 
but  in  all  ages  there  were  a  few  men  who  would  not  follow 
Satan,  but  who  earnestly  sought  after  God  ;  not  in  sickness 
only  like  you,  and  those  miserable  old  sinners  in  Athens, 
but  in  youth  and  health,  and  God  made  Himself  known  to 
them,  and  told  them  His  good  laws  for  them  to  walk  by, 
and  to  teach  to  the  polluted  families  of  men.  One  of  those 
good  men  was  called  Abraham.  He  knew  God  very  well, 
and  God  made  His  people  a  great  nation.  They  lived  in  a 
country  called  Egypt,  in  the  upper  part  of  Africa,  your  own 
Africa ;  but  the  king  of  Egypt,  who  was  called  Pharaoh, 
subdued  them,  and  made  slaves  of  them  for  a  great  many 
years.  There  were  many  good  men  among  them  for  a  long 
time,  and  a  certain  boy  was  born  whom  they  called  Moses. 


6ERM0N   TO   THE   HEATHEN.  401 

He  grow  up  to  be  a  very  wise  and  good  man,  and  got  well 
acquainted  with  God ;   and  God  often  talked  to  him,  and 
told  him  a  great  many  things  to  tell  his  people,  and  made 
Moses  a  great  chief  over  all  the  nation  that  descended  from 
Abraham.     Moses  was  a  holy  chief ;  he  had  but  one  wife  ; 
he  kept  God's  laws,  and  did  justly  to  all  men.     When  God 
had  fully  taught  Moses  to  trust  in  Him,  He  told  him  to  be 
up  with  all  his  people,  and  all  their  cattle,  and  everything 
they  had,  and  He  would  lead  them  to  a  good  country  which 
He  would  give  them  for  their  own.     So  Moses  and  all  the 
people  went,  and  the  wicked  king  who  had  oppressed  them 
raised  a  very  great  army  and  pursued,  and  overtook  them 
at  a  great  river,  or  an  arm  of  the  sea.     Moses  and  his 
people  were  dreadfully  scared,  and  thought  they  would  all 
be  killed ;  but  God  commanded  them  to  go  right  into  that 
great  river,  and  just  as  they  began  to  wade  in,  God  divided 
the  waters  and  made  a  dry  road  for  them,  and  they  went 
clear  across  the  great  arm  of  the  sea,  without  even  getting 
their  feet  wet.     When  the  wicked  king  saw  that,  he  rushed 
right  in  with  his  great  army,  and  chariots,  and  horses,  and  God 
brought  the  divided  waters  together  and  drowned  the  whole 
of  them  because  they  were  so  wicked.    You  see  all  that  was 
easy  enough  for  God,  who  made  the  sea  and  the  dry  land,  to  do. 
Then  his  people  travelled  a  long  way  through  a  desert, 
where  there  was  no  food  for  them  or  their  cattle ;  but  God 
sent  them  food  daily  direct  from  heaven,  and  that  was  just 
as  easy  for  Him  as  to  cause  the  food  to  grow  out  of  th< 
ground  for  us,  but  He  thus  taught  His  people  His  powei 
and  His  loving  care  for  them.     One   day  God  came  down 
in  a  "  thick  cloud  "  to  the  top  of  a  high  mountain,   mid 
"  thunders  and  lightnings,  and  the  voice  of  a  trumpet  ex- 
ceeding loud,  so  that  all  the  people  that  were  in  the  camp 
trembled,"  and  God  called   the   man  Moses  to  come  up  to 
Him,  and  there  He  told  the  great  chief  many  things ;  but 

DD 


402  OSBORN. — TSHUMGWANA. 

He  wrote  down  His  principal  laws  on  two  smooth  flat  stones, 
which  a  man  could  carry.  On  one  of  the  stones  He  wrote 
four  commandments,  to  teach  us  our  duty  to  God.  On  the 
other  He  wrote  six  commands,  to  teach  us  our  duty  to  man. 
God  gave  these  laws  to  Moses  for  his  people,  the  English, 
the  Kaffirs,  and  everybody.  They  were  written  from  the 
stones  into  books,  and  have  been  sent  out  among  all  nations, 
nnd  we  have  them  here  in  this  book  to  read  to  yon  to-day. 
Now  let  us  examine  them,  and  see  what  good  laws  they  are. 
"  God  spake  all  these  words,  saying,  I  am  the  Lord  thy 
God,  which  have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
out  of  the  house  of  bondage."  God  said  to  Moses,  and  He 
says  to  me,  to  you,  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child,  "  I 
am  the  Lord  thy  God."  "We  see  at  once  that  the  powers 
of  our  spirits,  which  came  from  God,  made  in  the  likeness 
of  God,  are  so  great,  that  God  alone  is  worthy  of  our 
supreme  confidence,  loyalty,  and  love,  and  we  see  His  great 
love  to  us  in  that  He  is  not  ashamed  to  say  to  every  soul 
of  man,  so  that  all  the  world  may  hear  it,  "  I  am  the  Lord 
thy  God."  No  living  thing  has  dared  to  proclaim  to  any 
man,  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God."  Is  it  not  a  great  shame 
that  men  should  insult  and  reject  this  great  and  loving 
God,  and  put  their  trust  in  the  ghosts  of  dead  men,  in  their 
priests,  and  the  poor  trash  they  hang  about  their  necks  ? 
Now  hear  what  He  says  in  the  next  command,  "  Thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  before  me."  There  is  but  one  true 
God,  but  the  thing  to  which  we  give  the  confidence,  loyalty, 
and  love  of  our  spirits,  which  belong  to  God  alone,  what- 
ever it  may  be,  that  takes  the  place  of  God,  and  such  things 
are  called  gods,  though  they  be  such  a  bunch  of  bones,  and 
beads,  and  birds-claws,  as  you  have  round  your  necks. 
God  explains  this,  saying,  "  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee 
any  graven  image,  or  any  likeness  of  anything  that  is  in 
heaven  above,  or  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the 


SERMON   TO   THE   HEATHEN.  403 

water  under  the  earth.  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself 
to  them,  nor  serve  them :  for  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am  a 
jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers  upon  the 
children,  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation  of  them  that 
hate  me;  and  shewing  mercy  unto  thousands  of  them  that 
love  me,  and  keep  my  commandments."  God  is  very  kind, 
yet  He  is  just.  He  could  not  consent  to  let  us  set  Him 
aside,  and  put  an  idol  in  His  place,  no  matter  what  it  is,  in 
heaven,  or  in  earth,  or  in  the  sea.  We  see  what  a  dreadful 
thing  it  is  to  reject  God,  and  follow  Satan  and  trust  in  men, 
and  the  things  of  this  world.  Such  lose  the  knowledge  of 
God,  and  their  children  for  generations  grope  in  darknv«ss, 
and  trust  to  charms,  and  to  their  priests  or  doctors,  and  to 
Imishologu.  God  does  not  want  to  visit  the  iniquity  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children,  but  the  dreadful  rebellion  of  the 
parents  against  God  puts  their  children  so  far  away  from 
Him  that  they  lose  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  go  on  in 
the  wicked  ways  of  their  parents.  But  if  the  parents  are 
true  to  God,  and  train  their  children  to  be  true  to  God,  then 
for  thousands  of  generations  they  may  walk  in  the  ways  of 
God,  and  enjoy  His  love  for  ever. 

Now  listen  to  God's  third  command  :  "  Thou  shalt  not 
take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain ;  for  the  Lord 
will  not  hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh  His  name  in  vain." 
Surely  God  could  not  allow  us  to  mock,  and  insult  Him, 
and  scandalize  His  name. 

Now  for  the  fourth  command,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath 
day,  to  keep  it  holy.  Six  days  shalt  thou  labour,  and  do 
all  thy  work  :  but  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the 
Lord  thy  God  :  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor 
thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy  man-servant,  nor  thy  maid- 
servant, nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  that  is  within  thy 
gates.  .  .  ."  Now,  see  the  kindness  of  God  in  all  this 
arrangement.    God  knew  that  we  needed  food  and  clothing, 


404  OSBORN. — TSHUxMGWANA. 

and  many  things  for  ourselves  and  for  our  families,  and  He 
has  given  us  the  right  to  get  and  to  hold  property,  lands, 
houses,  cattle,  money,  and  everything  we  need  for  our  com- 
fort, and  He  has  given  us  the  right  to  use  six  days  out  of 
every  seven,  and  commands  us  during  those  six  days  to 
work  and  attend  to  all  our  business,  and  thus  get  property 
honestly,  and  have  lack  of  nothing.  But  then  the  bodies 
of  men,  and  women,  and  of  beasts  that  labour  for  us,  would 
break  down  if  they  did  not  get  some  rest-days,  and  God, 
who  made  us,  knew  just  exactly  how  many  were  needed 
for  man  and  beast,  and  set  apart  every  seventh  day  for  that 
purpose,  and  that  while  we  were  resting  we  might  spend 
the  seventh  day  specially  with  Him  as  a  holy  day,  when  all 
His  people  might  meet  together  as  children  come  to  their 
father,  and  ask  and  receive  his  blessing.  This  is  a  law  of 
God  to  man,  and  hence,  if  any  man  or  beast  is  suffering  in 
any  way,  and  we  can  relieve  them  by  work  on  the  Sabbath, 
then  the  loving  design  of  the  law  allows  us  to  do  such 
work,  and  it  is  pleasing  to  God.  These  four  commands 
God  wrote  on  one  stone.  They  show  us  God's  great  kind- 
ness and  justice.  He  is  very  anxious  to  have  us  keep  His 
laws  and  be  happy  with  Him  for  ever,  but  if  we  will  not, 
then  we  bring  pollution  and  death  upon  ourselves.  The 
next  stone  had  six  commands  written  on  it ;  the  first  is  to 
our  children.  God  loves  our  children,  and  says  to  each 
one,  "  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother :  that  thy  days 
may  be  long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth 
thee."  Our  land  is  needed  for  our  children's  bodies  when 
we  are  dead,  and  God  is  needed  for  their  spirits.  If  they 
are  not  true  to  their  parents  they  get  into  all  sorts  of 
trouble  at  home,  and  thus  into  wars,  and  finally  lose  their 
land  and  all  their  property ;  if  they  are  not  true  to  God 
they  lose  their  portion  in  Him  and  go  clown  to  hell. 

In  the  next  command  God  speaks  to  every  human  being, 


SERMON   TO   THE    HEATHEN.  4U5 

— u  Thou  shalt  not  kill."  God  has  given  lis  life,  and  kindly 
guards  it  by  a  command  from  that  thundering  mountain, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  kill."  When  a  man  breaks  this  com- 
mand, and  murders  another,  by  God's  laws  his  life  is  for- 
feited, and  the  judges  may  try  him,  and  put  him  to  death, 
for  God  says,  "  Whoso  sheddeth  man's  blood  by  man  shall 
his  blood  be  shed."  No  man  has  a  right  to  put  even  the 
murderer  to  death  unless,  after  a  fair  trial,  the  Court  has 
found  him  truly  guilty,  and  commands  him  to  be  put  to 
death.  There  are  cases  also  in  war,  when  men  come  into 
your  country  with  the  intention  of  murdering  you  and  your 
families,  and  taking  all  your  cattle,  when  the  lives  of  many 
such  persons  are  forfeited  like  that  of  the  murderer.  God 
gives  you  the  right  to  defend  yourselves,  and  your  families, 
and  homes,  and  He  delivers  over  to  your  assegais  such  as 
He  knows  have  forfeited  their  lives.  We  see,  then,  while 
God  so  kindly  guards  our  rights  to  life,  His  justice  sen- 
tences the  wretch,  who  dares  to  commit  murder,  and  break 
this  law,  to  death.  It  is  not  because  God  has  any  pleasure 
in  seeing  the  blood  of  the  murderer  shed,  but  He  wants 
to  make  the  law  strong  to  guard  our  lives.  Even  in  His 
justice  He  is  very  merciful  to  mankind.  Now  do  you 
want  to  hear  God's  seventh  command  ?  Then  listen,  "Thou 
shalt  not  commit  adultery.''' 

In  the  beginning  God  made  one  man,  and  he  was  alone, 
and  God  said,  "  It  is  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone,"  and 
then  he  made  one  woman,  and  gave  her  to  the  man  to  be 
his  wife.  If  God  had  designed  man  to  have  more  than 
one  wife,  then  He  would  have  given  the  first  man  as  many 
wives  as  He  knew  He  ought  to  have,  for  Adam  was  not  a 
poor  man,  for  God  had  given  hi  ~i  all  the  world  and  every- 
thing in  it,  and  yet  He  gave  him  but  one  wife,  for  lie  knew 
that  one  wife  was  enough  for  any  man.  God  thus  gave  to 
man  the  right  and  the  command  to  form  families,  and  the 


406  OSBORN. — TSHUiMGWANA. 

command,  "be  fruitful  and  multiply  in  the  earth,"  and  He 
thus  showed  clearly  His  law  for  forming  families  by  the 
marriage  union  of  one  man  to  one  woman.  That  was  God's 
pattern  for  all  people  to  follow,  and  He  based  a  law  upon  it 
in  these  words,  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  them  male  and 
female,"  and  said,  "  for  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  father 
and  mother,  and  shall  cleave  to  his  wife,  and  they  twain 
shall  be  one  flesh.  Wherefore  they  are  no  more  twain  but 
one  flesh.  What,  therefore,  God  hath  joined  together  let 
not  man  put  asunder." 

Thus  you  see  God's  pattern  and  God's  words  together 
show  His  law  for  forming  families  as  plain  as  daylight. 
Thus  you  see,  if  God  had  allowed  a  man  to  have  more  than 
one  wife  He  would  have  given  Adam  just  as  many  as  He 
would  allow  any  great  chief  to  have,  for  Adam  was  the 
greatest  chief  and  the  richest  man  that  ever  was  made,  and 
then  God's  law  from  that  pattern  Avould  have  been  "  For 
this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and 
take  as  many  wives  as  he  can  buy  or  support,"  but  you  see 
that  is  not  God's  arrangement  at  all.  You  see,  too,  that 
God's  law  forbids  multiplying  in  the  earth  except  under 
His  family  arrangement,  and  also  any  waste  or  abuse  of 
our  powers  for  multiplying,  which  would  in  any  way  inter- 
fere with  God's  family  law.  The  seventh  command  God 
wrote  on  the  stone  is  to  guard  His  arrangement  for  forming 
families  and  He  says  to  every  man  and  woman  in  the  world, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery."  Are  not  all  God's  family 
arrangements  wise,  and  kind,  and  good  ?  The  man  or 
woman  who  breaks  any  part  of  God's  good  family  plans 
and  laws  wickedly  insults  God,  and  sets  Him  at  defiance. 

Kow  let  us  examine  the  eighth  command,  and  see  what 
k  good  one  it  is.  God  has  not  only  given  every  man  the 
right  to  have  one  wife,  and  every  woman  one  husband,  to 
live  together  in  union,  and  have  children,  and  "Train  them 


SERMON    TO   THE    HEATHEN.  407 

up  in  the  way  they  should  go,"  but  He  has  given  us  the 
right  to  get  and  to  own  property  for  the  comfortable  sup- 
port of  ourselves  and  our  families,  and  has  given  us  tha 
right  to  use  six  days  in  each  week  to  work,  and  do  busi- 
ness, and  thus  get  property  honestly,  and  He  guards  our 
rights  to  our  nroperty  by  a  command  to  each  man,  woman, 
and  child  in  the  world,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal."  How  kind 
and  thoughtful  God  has  been  for  us,  has  He  not  ?  Now 
have  you  got  any  other  thing  dear  to  you  that  God  could 
guard  by  His  authority  as  our  Great  King  in  a  command 
from  the  thundering  mountain  ?  What  is  the  dearest 
thing  a  man  or  woman  has  that  can  be  injured  by  another? 
It  is  your  reputation,  your  good  name.  If  a  man  tells  lies 
of  you,  and  gets  your  neighbours,  the  doctors,  and  the 
chiefs  to  believe  that  you  are  a  witch  or  a  thief,  and 
gets  them  down  on  you,  don't  you  see  that  you  are  ruined  ? 
God  has  given  us  a  right  to  get  and  to  have  a  good  name, 
and  guards  that  right  by  the  command  to  every  human 
soul  who  has  a  tongue  :  "  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  wit- 
ness against  thy  neighbour."  Now  there  is  nothing  left 
that  is  dear  to  us  that  God  could  guard  by  another  com- 
mand, and  yet  there  is  another.  "What  can  it  be  for  ? 
Take  it  into  your  minds,  and  examine  it  well,  and  see  what 
it  is  for.  "  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbour's  house, 
thou  shall  not  covet  they  neighbour's  wife,  nor  his  man- 
servant, nor  his  maid-servant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor 
any  thing  that  is  thy  neighbour's."  A  desire  in  the  heart 
for  any  of  these  things  so  strong  as  to  lead  us  to  be  willing 
to  break  any  of  God's  laws  to  get  them,  is  to  covet  them. 

A  desire  to  get  property  is  right,  and,  as  you  have  seen, 
God  provides  for  that  fully,  but  if  we  allow  that  desire  to 
get  so  strong  that  we  are  willing  to  get  it  by  any  dishonest 
means,  that  is  coveting  it,  which  is  a  dreadful  heart-sin 
against  God  and  man.     A  desire  to  leave  father  and  mother 


408  OSBORN. — TSHUMGWANA. 

and  get  married  to  one  wife  and  have  a  family  is  right,  and 
we  have  seen  God's  good  pattern  and  law  for  all  that,  but 
to  allow  your  desire  to  get  too  strong,  and  be  your  master, 
and  lead  you  to  be  willing  to  use  in  any  wrong  way  the 
powers  God  has  given  you  to  be  used  only  in  His  wise 
family  arrangement,  that  is  covetousness,  which  is  a  great 
sin  against  God,  because  to  gratify  your  wicked  desire  you 
will  insult  God  and  defy  His  authority.  It  is  this  dread- 
ful heart-desire  which  wicked  people  indulge  and  allow  to 
grow  in  their  spirits  till  it  masters  them,  and  leads  them 
to  tell  lies  against  their  neighbours,  steal  their  property, 
commit  murders,  and  break  ail  God's  good  laws.  So  you 
see,  my  dear  friends,  the  first  five  commands  of  the  second 
stone,  each  names  the  greatest  outward  sin  against  the 
best  things  God  has  given  us  to  enjoy,  but  this  last 
command  strikes  at  the  dreadful  inward  heart-sin  of  un- 
lawful desire,  which  is  the  fountain  from  which  all  the 
rest  flows.  So  you  see  all  these  commands  of  God  reach 
from  the  highest  outward  sin  to  the  lowest  wrong  desire  of 
the  heart.  So  the  man  who  is  guilty  of  murder  in  the 
sight  of  God  is  not  only  the  man  who  assegais  another  to 
death  from  behind  a  bush,  but  the  man  also  who  allows  the 
feeling  of  hate  and  murder  to  have  any  place  in  his  heart. 
God  says,  "  He  that  hateth  his  brother  is  a  murderer." 
So  also  a  man  is  not  to  commit  adultery,  nor  is  he  allowed 
to  look  upon  a  woman  for  the  purpose  of  indulging  even  a 
wrong  heart-desire  for  her.  What  holy,  just,  and  good 
laws  these  are  !  You  see  at  once  who  made  them,  for  no 
man  could  make  laws  so  wise,  so  good,  so  broad,  and  so 
deep.  If  every  one  was  obedient  to  these  laws,  then  all  the 
people  in  the  world  would  love  each  other  like  brothers  and 
sisters,  then  we  would  have  no  more  wars,  no  killing,  no 
stealing,  no  cheating,  no  telling  lies,  and  injuring  the  good 
name   of   another;    no  more  adulteries,  nor  any  of  the 


SERMON  TO  THE  HEATHEN.         409 

polluting  wickedness  of  "ubukweta"  or  "  intonjane." 
Then  love  to  God,  "  peace  on  earth,  goodwill  to  man,"  would 
fill  the  world  with  happiness  and  God  would  be  well 
pleased. 

Well  now,  iny  dear  friends,  don't  you  all  say  that  God's 
laws  are  right  and  good,  and  that  everybody  ought  to  obey 
them  ?  We  all  agree  in  that  I  see.  Well,  then,  have  you 
obeyed  them?  Why,  says  one,  "  How  could  we  obey  them, 
when  we  never  knew  them  before?"  Very  well,  you  know 
them  now.  Are  you  willing  to  obey  them  ?  Are  you  wil- 
ling to  accept  the  Lord  God  as  your  God,  the  supreme 
Object  of  your  trust,  and  heart-obedience,  and  love  ?  Are 
you  willing  to  give  up  all  these  wretched  things  you  have 
been  trusting  in,  instead  of  God  ?  Are  you  willing  never 
to  speak  His  name  but  in  reverence  and  love  ?  Are  you 
willing  to  work  and  attend  to  all  your  own  business  six 
clays  in  the  week,  and  remember  the  Sabbath,  to  use  it 
only  as  God  has  appointed,  as  a  day  of  rest,  and  the  wor- 
ship of  God,  our  Great  King  ?  Now,  to  come  to  the  laws 
of  the  second  stone  :  Do  these  children  consent  to  love  and 
obey  their  parents,  and  so  live  at  home,  and  away  from 
home,  as  to  bring  honour  to  them?  And  do  yon,  parents, 
consent  so  to  teach  your  children,  and  to  give  them  such  a 
holy  example  of  right-doing  that  they  may,  by  obedience, 
bring  honour  upon  you  ?  When,  in  words  or  acts,  you  teach 
them  wrong  things,  they  will  disgrace  themselves,  and  dis- 
honour you,  even  by  obedience  to  you.  Do  you  consent 
never  to  kill  anybody,  nor  indulge  angry  desires  in  your 
hearts  ?  Do  you  consent  never  to  commit  adultery,  nor  any 
uncleanness  by  the  abuse  of  any  of  your  powers  which 
belong  only  to  the  family  institution  of  God,  and  to  sub- 
mit to  God's  plan  and  law,  of  having  but  one  wife  ?  Do 
you  consent  never  to  steal,  nor  so  desire  the  property  of 
another  as  to  get  it  by  any  unfair  means  ?     Do  you  consent 


4 10  OSBOllN. — TSIIUMG  WANA. 

never  to  tell  any  more  lies,  nor  in  .any  way  injure  the  good 
name  of  your  neighbour  ?  I  see  some  of  you  stick  at  one 
thing,  and  some  at  another,  and  at  heart  you  are  rebels 
against  God.  Though  you  have  not  known  God,  your 
ancient  fathers  knew  Him,  and  these  good  laws  of  God ; 
but  they  did  not  obey  them,  and  their  foolish  hearts  were 
darkened.  Thus  you  have  lost  entirely  the  four  laws  of 
the  first  stone ;  but  you  have  retained  portions  of  five  of 
the  laws  of  the  second  stone.  You  have  laws  against  dis- 
obedience to  parents,  against  murder,  against  adultery, 
against  stealing,  and  against  lying ;  and  you  have  fines  and 
punishments  for  all  these  sins ;  but  you  have  so  corrupted 
and  altered  these  laws  of  God  that  you  confine  them  to  a 
few  outward  things,  and  leave  yourselves  plenty  of  room 
for  breaking  the  laws  of  God;  and  your  laws  don't  go  down 
into  the  heart  like  God's  laws.  So  you  see,  my  friends, 
you  have  closed  your  eyes  against  the  light  God  has  given 
you,  and  have  refused  to  walk  in  the  path  of  obedience  to 
Him.  Even  now,  when  you  see  the  plain,  good  path 
marked  out  for  us  all  by  His  laws,  you  refuse  to  walk  in  it. 
Now,  friends,  let  me  tell  you  a  great  secret.  You  have 
seen  that  all  the  outward  sins  flow  from  a  corrupt  covetous 
source  of  sins  in  the  heart,  so  all  right  obedience  to  God's 
laws  must  flow  frcm  holiness  and  love  in  the  heart.  You 
can't  get  salt  water  and  fresh  water  out  of  the  same 
spring.  Now,  if  we  have  not  that  holiness  in  our  hearts, 
shoving  all  the  corrupt  covetousness  clear  outside,  then  we 
cannot  love  God,  nor  keep  His  commandments.  Alas ! 
that  is  just  the  thing  Adam  and  Eve  lost  when  they  first 
rebelled  against  God,  and  every  child  born  since  has  coma 
into  the  world  in  the  sinful  "  likeness  "  and  "  image  "  of 
fallen  Adam  and  Eve,  with  their  corrupted  nature  in  our 
spirits,  and  the  love  of  God,  and  holiness  to  obey  His  laws 
are  not  there  at  all ;  and  because  our  spirits  are  corrupt, 


8ERM0N  TO  THE  HEATHEN.  411 

we  begin  to  go  wrong  when  little  children,  and  go  on  worse 
and  worse.  Now,  that  is  the  state  of  every  one  of  you. 
Your  spirits  are  corrupt  as  you  feel  and  know.  You  refuse 
to  keep  God's  laws,  and  can't  keep  them  while  your  hearts 
are  wicked.  You  are  guilty,  because  you  are  sinners. 
You  are  under  the  sentence  of  death,  because  you  have 
broken  God's  laws,  for  He  says,  "  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it 
shall  die."  You  are  slaves  of  Satan,  for  having  yielded 
yourselves  servants  to  sin,  and  become  rebels  against  God, 
He  has  delivered  you  over  to  Satan.  What  a  dreadful 
state  you  are  all  in  to  be  sure.  Now,  you  know  this  is  all 
true,  and  all  your  sacrifices  to"  Icanti"  to  "  Inkosi "  and 
"  Imishologu,"  prove  that  you  feel  this  dreadful  guilt,  and 
want  to  atone  for  it  in  that  way.  Now,  what  is  to  be 
done  ?  Every  common  crime  against  a  chief  must  be 
atoned  for  by  paying  cattle ;  but  some  sins,  such  as  mur- 
der and  witchcraft,  cannot  be  atoned  for  by  the  payment  of 
cattle  at  all,  the  guilty  man  must  die. 

Now,  sins  of  any  kind  against  the  Great  God  cannot  be 
atoned  for  by  cattle  or  anything  in  this  world.  All  the 
gold  and  silver,  and  all  the  cattle  in  this  world  would  not 
atone  for  the  sins  of  one  sinner.  Now,  as  the  whole  world 
was  guilty  before  God,  and  as  there  was  no  ransom  for 
any  of  them,  they  were  all  going  down  into  the  infernal 
hole  of  Satan  together,  for  they  were  so  polluted  and  so 
guilty,  they  were  not  fit  to  live  with  God,  and  there  was  no 
other  place  for  them.  But  though  we  were  all  such  rebels 
against  God,  He  loved  us  so  much,  and  He  was  so  sorry 
'  for  us,  He  could  not  bear  to  see  us  all  dragged  by  Satan 
down  to  hell,  so  He  made  a  plan  to  give  an  atonement  from 
heaven  for  the  sins  of  all  the  sinners  in  the  world,  and  send 
down  a  great  Saviour  to  save  all  who  would  consent  to 
obey  God's  laws,  and  receive  the  Saviour.  There  was  "no 
man  in  heaven  or  on  earth  "  who  could  find  out  how  man 


412  OSBOHN. — TSIITJMGWANA. 

could  be  redeemed  from  the  death -sentence  of  these  laws, 
or  how  our  spirits  could  be  washed  from  the  pollution  of 
sin,  and  made  holy  and  fit  to  live  with  God,  but  God  found 
out  this  great  mystery,  and  made  the  whole  plan  Himself. 

Now,  my  dear  friends,  we  want  to  explain  to  you  some- 
thing about  this  great  God.  There  is  but  one  God,  He 
hath  told  us  that  Himself,  and  He  cannot  lie,  and  we  see 
the  proofs  of  it  in  the  plan  of  all  His  works,  but  in  this  one 
God  there  are  three  distinct  personal  spirits,  exactly  of  the 
same  nature,  and  the  same  power  and  love,  which  together 
constitute  one  God.  They  are  called  God  the  Father,  the 
Son  of  God,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  "  and  these  Three  are 
One."  This  is  a  great  mystery ;  you  cannot  understand  it, 
and  yet  you  know  it  is  true.  There  is  a  mystery  about 
everything  you  see  that  you  can't  understand,  but  when  we 
have  the  proof  that  anything  is  true,  we  believe  it,  and  don't 
trouble  ourselves  about  the  mystery  at  all.  How  do  we 
know  that  in  God  there  are  three  Persons  ?  Because  He 
hath  told  us  so  in  His  book,  and  in  proof  of  it  many  holy 
men  have  got  acquainted  with  God  the  Father,  and  with 
God  the  Son,  and  with  God  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Well,  the  great  plan  that  these  Three  in  One  agreed 
upon  was,  that  God  the  Father  should  give  His  Son  to 
come  clown  into  this  wicked  world,  and  be  offered  as  a  sacri- 
liec  for  the  sins  of  all  the  people,  and  the  Son  of  God  loved 
us  so  that  He  was  glad  to  do  that.  But  as  He  was  all 
spirit,  and  had  no  body  to  offer  as  a  sacrifice,  it  was  agreed 
that  He  should  lay  aside  all  His  glory,  and  all  His  great 
things  in  the  glorious  "  Great  Place  "  of  His  Father,  and 
come  down,  and  take  a  human  body  and  a  human  spirit,  be 
born  a  little  child,  and  grow  up  to  be  a  man,  that  He  might 
be  our  Tsachcr,  and  die  for  the  sins  of  the  world. 

This  was  the  great  Saviour  God  told  Adam  and  Eve 
that    He  would  send,  who  should  be  born  of  a  woman, 


SERMON   TO   THE    HEATHEN.  413 

and  bruise  Satan's  head ;  and  God  after  that  told 
many  good  men  about  Him,  but  He  showed  His  great 
"  purpose  "  more  fully  to  Moses,  for  he  was  such  a  good 
man  that  he  could  understand  it  better.  In  the  nation  of 
Israel,  of  which  Moses  was  a  great  chief,  as  we  told  you 
before,  there  arose  many  holy  men  who  knew  God,  and 
God  told  them  all  about  His  "  purpose  "  to  save  the  world. 
He  told  them  when  His  Son  would  come,  and  that  He 
should  be  born  of  a  virgin  who  bad  never  known  any  man, 
and  He  should  be  born  in  a  place  called  Bethlehem,  and 
that  though  the  second  Spirit  of  God,  called  the  Son  of 
God,  would  be  in  Him,  He  would  look  just  like  any  other 
man ;  that  He  would  teach  holy  men  all  God's  laws 
for  mankind,  which  they  had  forgotten,  and  leveal  to  them 
the  "  unknown  God ;  "  that  He  would  beal  the  sick,  give 
sight  to  the  blind,  teach  the  poor  people,  and  raise  many 
dead  men  to  life  ;  that  He  would  go  about  continually  doing 
good.  But  God  told  them  distinctly  that  because  His  Son 
was  so  good,  and  the  world  so  bad,  they  would  tell  lies  of 
Him,  and  beat  Him,  and  scold  Him,  and  that  when  He 
was  ready  to  offer  Himself  up  as  a  sacrifice  for  sins,  He 
would  just  deliver  Himself  up  to  the  wicked  people  and 
their  rulers,  who  would  nail  Him  to  a  tree,  and  put  Him 
to  death,  and  that  God  would  accept  His  sacrifice  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world,  and  raise  Him  up  from  the  dead  the 
third  clay  after,  to  be  for  ever  our  Great  Pi-iest  and  Saviour, 
that  by  Him  all  might  have  the  power  to  come  to  God, 
and  get  forgiveness  of  all  sins,  and  get  their  dirty  spirits 
washed  and  made  fit  to  dwell  with  God  in  eternal  happi- 
ness. Well,  all  these  words  of  God  about  His  Son  were 
written  down  in  a  book  hundreds  of  years  before  the  time 
set  for  Him  to  come,  so  that  there  should  be  no  mistake 
in  knowing  Him  when  He  should  come.  God's  plan,  too, 
was  that  through  the  promise  of  the  Son  of  God  to  do  all 


414  OSBORN. — TSHUMGWANA. 

these  things,  all  who  would  believe  God's  words  about  Him, 
and  accept  God's  coming  Son  as  their  Saviour,  should 
be  saved,  as  certainly  before  as  after  His  coming,  and  for 
fear  that  His  words  might  not  go  deep  enough  into  the 
minds  of  men,  and  that  they  might  not  trust  in  His  only 
sacrifice  for  sins,  to  help  their  faith  in  His  words,  he  told 
them  to  offer  sacrifices  of  beasts  to  show  their  faith,  not  in 
the  beast,  but  in  the  one  great  sacrifice  of  His  Son.  Many 
hundreds  of  years  passed  away,  and  many  thousands  of 
sinners  believed  God's  words  about  His  Son,  and  while 
they  offered  bullocks  on  God's  altars,  as  pictures  or  pat- 
terns of  the  sacrifice  God  had  promised,  they  accepted 
the  Son  of  God  as  their  Saviour,  and  th^y  were  saved, 
made  holy,  and  went  up  to  the  holy  place  of  God  to  be 
happy  for  ever.  All  who  carefully  read  God's  holy  books 
about  His  Son  knew  when  the  time  would  come  for  His 
appearing  among  men,  and  they  waited  patiently,  and  at 
the  time  sure  enough  He  came,  and  all  the  things  that 
God  had  said,  which  had  been  written  down  by  the  holy  men 
of  God,  were  done.  Everything  about  His  birth,  His  life,  His 
teachings,  His  mighty  works,  the  persecutions  He  endured, 
His  death  and  resurrection,  everything  came  to  pass  just 
exactly  as  God  said  it  would  come  to  pass.  The  S^n  of 
God  was  called  Jesus,  which  means  Saviour,  for  He  came 
to  save  the  people  from  their  sins.  He  was  also  called 
Christ,  which  means  anointed,  for  God  the  Father  set 
Him  apart,  and  anointed  Him  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the 
world. 

Well,  all  these  things  that  Jesus  Christ  did,  and  all  that 
the  people  did  to  Him,  which  God  had  said  would  be  done, 
were  also  written  down  in  a  book,  so  that  all  the  world 
might  read  them,  and  learn  about  Him,  believe  God's 
words,  and  receive  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Saviour. 

He  was  "  crucified,  dead,  and  buried,  but  the  third  day 


SERMON  TO  THE  HEATHEN.  415 

after  He  arose  from  the  dead; "  and  then,  in  the  same  human 
body  which  had  been  put  to  death,  He  taught  His  learners 
and  good  men  for  forty  days;  and  then  from  a  mountain, 
called  the  Mount  of  Olives,  they  saw  Him  ascend  up  to 
heaven,  out  of  their  sight.  I  have  seen  all  those  places ; 
where  He  was  born,  and  lived,  and  taught,  and  died  and  rose 
again,  and  ascended  to  heaven.  Now  we  have  not  time  to- 
day to  read  to  you  all  these  words  of  God  about  Him. 
We  have  them  all  here  in  this  book,  but  you  know  we 
would  not  tell  you  a  lie  about  them.  Here  is  the  missionary, 
and  plenty  of  these  Kaffir  people  in  the  station,  who  have 
read  them,  and  they  will  tell  you  the  same  things,  and  in 
proof  of  their  truth,  according  to  these  words  of  God,  we 
have  received  Jesus  Christ  as  our  Saviour,  and  He  has  saved 
us  from  our  sins ;  and  "  we  know  God  and  Jesus  Christ 
whom  He  hath  sent,"  for  He  went  back  to  His  Father,  not 
to  leave  us  in  our  sins  to  perish,  but  to  be  our  Great  High 
Priest  at  the  throne  of  the  Great  King  of  heaven,  and  He  is 
as  really  the  Saviour  of  sinners  now  as  when  He  dwelt 
among  men.  It  is  from  God's  "  Great  Place,"  quite  out  of 
our  sight,  that  he  sends  us  rain,  and  supplies  all  the  wants 
of  our  bodies,  so  from  the  same  Great  Place,  Jesus  Christ 
sends  us  salvation  from  sin  and  Satan,  and  makes  us  holy, 
so  that  we  may  keep  God's  commands.  "  But,"  says  one, 
"  Oh,  He  is  a  great  way  off;  how  shall  I  find  Him?  "  Well 
now,  we'll  tell  you  another  great  secret.  Ecfore  Jesus  Christ 
left  the  world,  He  said  to  all  His  holy  men,  and  they  wrote 
it  down,  "  If  I  go  not  away,  the  Comforter  will  not  come 
unto  you ;  but  if  I  depart,  I  will  send  Him  unto  you."  And 
again,  "  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  He  shall  give  you  another 
Comforter."  Jesus  was  then  their  Comforter,  but  was  going 
away,  but  promised  to  send  another  to  take  His  place,  and 
abide  with  us  ;  how  long  ? — "  that  He  may  abide  with  you 
for  ever."     Who  is  this  Comforter  ?  "  Even  the  Spirit  of 


416  OSBORN. — TSI1UMGWANA. 

truth  ;  whom  the  world  cannot  receive,  because  it  sceth  Him 
not,  neither  knoweth  Him;  but  ye  know  Him;  for  He 
dwelleth  with  you,  and  shall  be  in  you."  "  These  things 
have  I  spoken  unto  you,"  said  Jesus,  "  being  yet  present 
with  you.  But  the  Comforter,  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost, 
whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  He  shall  teach  you 
all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance, 
whatsoever  I  have  said  unto  you." 

The  Comforter  he  promised  to  send  to  live  with  us  in 
this  world  for  ever  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  the  third 
Great  Spirit  of  the  one  Great  God.  He  is  an  "  Unknown 
God"  to  the  poor  slaves  of  Satan,  because  they  don't  see  Him, 
but  all  the  saved  ones  know  Him,  for  He  dwells  with  them, 
and  teaches  them,  and  comforts  them  every  day ;  yet  still 
they  don't  see  Him,  but  they  feel  His  power  in  their  hearts. 
You  can't  see  my  spirit,  yet  it  is  my  spirit  that  has  been 
teaching  you  for  an  hour.  You  can't  see  Imishologu  ;  yet 
you  believe  they  live,  and  you  have  offered  hundreds  of 
sacrifices  to  them.  You  can't  see  the  air  you  breathe,  yet 
you  could  not  live  ten  minutes  without  it.  The  air  is  the 
symbol  God  uses  in  His  book  to  illustrate  the  presence  and 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  air  is  everywhere,  so  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  in  every  part  of  this  world.  His  first  busi- 
ness is  to  shine  into  our  dark  spirits,  and  show  us  our 
pollution  of  spirit  by  sin,  our  deep  guilt  for  breaking  God's 
good  laws,  our  exposure  to  the  death-penalty  of  the  law, 
our  bondage  to  Satan,  and  to  show  us  that  we  have  no 
power  to  save  ourselves.  This  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
shining  into  us  stirs  up  all  the  bad  in  our  hearts,  wakes  up 
the  wicked  spirits  of  Satan's  fallen  host,  and  then  thero  is 
a  great  war  in  our  hearts.  The  wickedness  of  our  polluted 
spirits,  called  the  "  carnal  mind,"  and  Satan  raises  a  great 
war  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  keep  us  from  following  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  accepting  Jesus  Christ  as  our  Saviour. 


SERMON    TO    THE     HEATHE?'..  417 

Bat  if  we  set  our  whole  hearts  to  resist  sin  and  Satan,  and 
let  G<  d's  Spirit  lead  us,  He  will  make  God's  words  about 
Jesus  plain  to  our  minds,  and  then  if  we  consent  to  allow 
Him  to  take  away  all  our  sins,  and  cleanse  our  spirits 
through  the  blood  of  Christ's  atonement,  and  receive  Jesus 
Christ  as  our  Saviour,  God  will  at  once  give  us  the  power 
to  be  His  children.  Do  you  hear  these  words  ?  Are  they 
not  glad  tidings  to  your  ears  ?  Yet  you  will  not  know 
God  by  hearing  and  believing  that  it  is  the  truth  that  we 
are  telling  you,  unless  you  submit  to  God's  laws,  and 
according  to  God's  words  receive  Jesus  Christ  as  your 
Saviour.  Now  remember,  many  of  us  have  proved  the 
truth  of  all  this.  "We  have  both  proved  it  (the  two  speakers) 
the  missionary  here  has  proved  it,  and  many  of  his  people 
here  have  proved  it.  We  were  poor  sinners  as  dark  as  any 
of  you.  We  remember  well  when  the  Holy  Ghost  shined 
into  us  and  showed  us  our  sins ;  we  felt  the  burden  of  guilt 
heavy  on  our  souls  ;  we  felt  the  mighty  opposing  power  of 
Satan ;  we  felt  that  there  was  no  help  in  us ;  then  we  cried 
to  God  for  help ;  We  confessed  our  sins  to  Him,  and  sub- 
mitted our  wretched  souls  and  bodies  to  His  will,  to  do 
with  us  just  as  He  pleased,  but  we  believed  His  words  about 
Jesus  Christ,  and  received  Him  as  our  Saviour  from  sin, 
and  the  very  moment  we  accepted  God's  Son  as  our  Saviour, 
God  pardoned  all  our  sins.  The  Holy  Ghost  bore  witness 
with  our  spirits  that  we  were  the  children  of  God, and  washed 
our  spirits  through  the  blood  of  Jesus,  and  filled  them  with 
His  love.  He  did  not  bear  witness  to  our  eyes,  or  ears, 
but  to  our  spirits ;  and  we  know  that  God's  words  are  true 
for  we  have  proved  them,  and  we  know  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  for  He  hath 
saved  us ;  and  we  know  that  we  are  the  children  of  God  by 
His  Spirit,  which  He  hath  given  us,  and  by  His  purifying 
power  in  our  hearts,  and  the  love  we  feel  for  God  and  man. 

EE 


418  0S130RN. — TSHVMGWANA. 

Now  we  accept  the  Great  King  as  "  the  Lord  our  God," 
and  gladly  keep  His  commandments,  for  the  fountain  of 
our  hearts  has  been  purified,  the  bitter  waters  of  covetous- 
ness  have  been  cleared  out,  and  the  sweet  waters  of  God's 
renewing  love  now  flow  out  in  willing  obedience  to  all 
(iod's  laws. 

Now  my  dear  friends,  a  great  many  of  the  things  we 
have  told  you  to-day  you  know  to  be  true,  from  what  you 
have  felt  and  from  what  you  now  feel,  and  the  rest  we 
know  to  be  true,  for  we  have  proved  them,  and  we  come  to 
you  as  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  God's  words  about  Jesus. 
You  know  we  would  not  tell  you  lies  ;  even  if  the  truth  was 
not  in  us,  we  have  nothing  to  gain  by  telling  you  lies.  We 
are  witnesses  for  Jesus  that  He  came  to  save  sinners,  that 
He  hath  saved  us,  and  that  He  is  very  desirous  to  save  you 
to-day.  Will  you  consent  to  let  Him  save  you  now  ?  The 
Holy  Spirit  is  now  shining  into  the  minds  of  many  of  you; 
you  now  begin  to  feel  His  mighty  power,  and  the  opposing 
power  of  sin  and  of  Satan  in  your  hearts. 

You  know  the  rising  desire  you  feel  in  your  heart  to  give 
up  sin,  and  yield  yourselves  to  God,  is  not  from  Satan,  nor 
from  your  own  bad  hearts,  and  it  is  not  from  me,  it  is  the 
awakening  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  your  hearts.  0,  He 
wants  to  lead  you  to  Jesus.  He  won't  force  you ;  but  if 
you  consent  to  be  saved  from  all  your  sins,  and  walk  after 
Him,  He  will  lead  you  to  Jesus.  The  Son  of  God  don't 
wait  for  you  to  go  up  to  heaven,  to  His  Great  Place,  but 
whenever  you  are  so  sick  of  your  sins  as  to  give  yourselves 
wholly  to  Him  to  save  you,  and  receive  Him  by  faith  in 
God's  words  about  Him,  He  comes  down  quick  as  thought, 
and  delivers  your  soul  from  Satan,  and  washes  it  from  its 
sins.  Jesus  loves  you  every  one,  and  wants  to  save  you 
now,  and  that  is  the  reason  He  has  sent  His  Spirit  into 
your  hearts  to  give  you  the  desire  you  feel  to  come  to  Him 


SERMON    TO   THE    HEATHEN.  419 

He  is  the  only  Friend  you  have,  who  loves  you  enough 
^0  die  for  you.  He  "  hath  tasted  death  for  every  man  ;  " 
He  hath  poured  out  His  heart's  blood  for  you,  each  one,  as 
the  only  sacrifice  for  sins.  His  love  for  poor  sinners  is  the 
same  to-day  as  the  day  He  died  for  us,  for  He  is  not  like 
a  man  to  change ;  He  is  the  Son  of  God,  and  hence  the 
same  in  all  the  past  time,  the  present,  and  for  ever.  He 
has  a  word  for  each  one  of  you,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye 
that  labour,  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 
You  are  heavy  laden  with  sins,  and  sorrows,  and  guilt; 
you  are  weary  with  travelling  in  the  dark  way  that  leads 
to  hell — you  are  the  very  persons  whom  Jesus  invites,  and 
He  says,  "  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me,  for  I 
am  meek  and  lowly  of  heart,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  for  your 
souls."  Will  you  take  His  yoke,  consent  to  be  "in-spanned" 
and  bear  His  yoke,  and  walk  in  obedience  to  all  His  laws ; 
He  won't  lay  too  heavy  a  yoke  upon  you,  for  He  says,  to 
encourage  you,  "  I  am  meek  and  lowly  of  heart,"  the  most 
sympathizing,  loving  Friend  in  the  world.  If  you  take  His 
yoke,  submit  to  His  will,  and  receive  Him  as  your  only 
Saviour,  then  ye  "  shall  find  rest  for  your  souls."  He  will 
not  deliver  your  bodies  from  the  death  penalty  of  the  law. 
Tliey  will  still  suffer,  and  finally  go  down  into  the  grave ; 
but  Jesus  has  promised  to  raise  your  bodies  from  the  grave 
in  the  end,  just  as  His  human  body  was  raised,  and  then 
our  bodies  will  be  so  glorious  and  holy,  as  to  be  suitable 
for  our  pure  spirits  to  live  in  at  the  "  Great  Place"  of  our 
King.  Will  you  accept  Jesus  as  your  King,  your  Priest, 
and  your  Saviour,  or  not  ?  Let  every  one  think  well,  and 
decide  for  himself  and  herself  to  be  the  Lord's,  and  receive 
Jesus  Christ,  or  not.  Let  no  one  try  to  come  to  Jesus, 
amply  because  another  does.  Let  no  one  be  ashamed  to 
come  to  Jesus  through  fear  of  anybody.  "  God  commands  " 
each  one  of  you  to  repent,  and  believe  the  Gospel, — to  sur- 


420  OSBORN. — TSHUMGWANA. 

render  to  God,  and  on  God's  own  ofier,  and  invitation,  and 
promises,  to  receive  Jesns  Christ.  When  He  came  to  His 
people  in  olden  time,  many  of  them  received  Him  not,  and 
they  perished  in  their  sins  ;  "  but  as  many  as  received  Him, 
to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  oi  God,  even  to 
as  many  as  believed  on  His  name."  It  is  so  now.  Within 
the  last  two  months  we  have  seen  about  two  thousand 
Kaffirs  surrender  to  God,  and  receive  Jesus  Christ,  and  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  every  one  of  them  received  the  power,  re- 
newing their  hearts,  and  making  them  "  the  sons  of  God." 
Jf  you  fail  to  accept  Christ,  you  will  fail  to  receive  this  great 
salvation,  and  will  die  in  your  sins.  Now  God's  great  plan 
of  salvation  is  before  you,  and  you  not  only  know  that  these 
things  are  true  by  what  we  have  told  you,  but  by  the  Spirit's 
light  in  your  minds.  Life  and  death  are  now  before  you ; 
walk  after  the  Spirit,  receive  Christ,  and  ye  shall  live ;  or, 
walk  after  your  bad  nature  and  Satan,  and  you  will  die  in 
your  sins. 

Now  all  who  have  looked  straight  at  God's  words  to-day, 
and  who  feel  the  Holy  Spirit's  light  and  power  in  their 
hearts,  and  who  have  decided  to  give  up  all  their  sins,  and 
obey  God ;  all  who  now  consent  to  receive  Jesus  Christ,  to 
be  His,  living  or  dying,  to  be  true  to  Him,  and  have  con- 
fidence in  Him,  and  cleave  to  Him  as  your  Saviour,  as  long 
as  you  live,  let  them  stand  up.  Let  none  stand  up  but 
poor  sinners,  who  now  consent  to  be  the  Lord's,  and  receive 
Jesus  Christ,  but  all  such  may  stand  up  now. 

About  one  hundred  awakened  persons  stood  up. 
A  majority  of  theni  were  persons  on  the  mission,  who 
had  been  long  under  Gospel  teaching  ;  but  among 
them  was  a  large  number  of  raw  heathen.  Then 
we  all  kneeled  down  and  prayed,  and  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  seemed  to  shake  the  whole  mass  of 


ANOTHER  TURN  AT  THE  HEATHEN.      421 

believers  and  sinners  in  a  remarkable   manner,  and 
many  were  saved  at  that  service. 

After  the  close  of  the  day  service  the  heathen  re- 
turned to  their  kraals,  not  considering  it  safe,  on 
account  of  their  war  troubles  with  the  Pondos,  to 
be  away  from  their  homes  after  dark.  That  night 
we  preached  in  the  chapel  to  the  people  living  on 
the  mission  premises,  amounting  to  about  400,  in- 
cluding children.  The  next  day,  which  was  Sabbath, 
the  19th  of  August,  we  had  the  heathen  out  in  still 
greater  numbers  than  we  had  the  day  before,  and 
after  preaching  to  them  in  the  same  open  court,  from 
the  third  and  fourth  verses  of  the  eighth  chapter  of 
Romans,  we  had  a  prayer-meeting,  at  which  many 
were  saved.  At  night  we  preached  again  in  the 
chapel.  On  Monday  we  preached  out-doors  to  the 
heathen  again,  from  the  Saviour's  narrative  of  the 
prodigal  son.  After  a  suitable  explanation  of  the 
subject,  we  used  the  prodigal's  career  to  illustrate 
the  spiritual  condition  of  the  apostate  nations  of 
Africa.  I  will  merely  state  some  of  the  leading 
points  of  the  analogy,  which  we  worked  out  in  detail 
on  that  occasion. 

1st.  Every  red  Kaffir  among  you  has  been  circumcised. 
"Where  did  you  get  this  ceremony  of  circumcision?  About 
4,000  years  ago  God  made  a  covenant  with  Abraham,  that 
great  old  chief  we  told  you  about  the  other  day.  The 
covenaut  bound  him  and  all  his  seed  to  be  true  to  God, 
and  keep  all  His  laws,  and  thus  they  would  secure  God's 
special  blessings  through  all  generations.     And  God  said 


422  OSBOIIN. — TSIIUMGWANA. 

to  Abraham,  "  This  is  my  covenant  which  ye  shall  keep, 
between  me  and  you,  and  thy  seed  after  thee.  Every  man 
child  among  you  shall  be  circumcised — and  it  shall  be  a 
token  of  the  covenant  betwixt  me  and  you."  The  seed  of 
Abraham  from  that  time  continued  to  circumcise  their  sons 
for  about  2,000  years,  till  Jesus  Christ  came.  Then  God 
set  the  outward  token  of  circumcision  aside,  and  received 
all  poor  sinners  of  every  nation  alike  into  His  church,  who 
would  repent  of  their  sins,  and  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  their 
Saviour.  Instead  of  circumcision  He  gave  them  all  one 
outward  sign  for  males  and  females  alike — baptism  by 
water,  and  the  inward  "  washing  of  regeneration,  and  re- 
newing of  the  Holy  Ghost."  You  see  that  some  of  your 
ancient  fathers  knew  God,  and  His  covenant  with  men ; 
but  though  you  have  kept  to  circumcision  to  this  day,  you 
have  gone  so  far  from  home,  that  you  have  lost  the  know- 
ledge of  God  and  H  is  covenant,  and  have  therefore  failed 
to  learn  His  new  Gospel  covenant  for  all  nations.  Cir- 
cumcision, till  Christ  came,  was  the  ceremony  of  initia- 
tion into  the  Church  of  God,  and  the  token  of  His  Cove- 
nant ;  but  you  have  made  it  the  ceremony  of  initiation  to 
the  standing  and  privileges  of  manhood  and  citizenship,  and 
the  token  for  a  system  of  corruption,  most  dishonouring  to 
God  and  degrading  to  yourselves. 

2nd.  Where  did  you  learn  to  offer  sacrifices  of  bullocks 
as  an  atonement  for  sin  ?  God  appointed  the  offering  of 
sacrifices  thousands  of  years  ago,  as  teaching  types  of  the 
one  great  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ. 

When  you  kill  a  bullock  as  a  sacrifice  for  a  sick  man, 
you  split  the  beast  in  two,  from  the  nose  to  the  tail,  right 
through  the  middle  of  the  backbone.  That  is  just  the  way 
Abraham  did  thousands  of  years  ago.  He  "  divided  them 
in  the  midst,  and  laid  each  piece  one  against  another." 

When  you  prepare  a  bullock  for  sacrifice,  you  separate 


KAFFIRISM    AND    JUDAISM.  423 

all  the  fat,  and  offer  that  by  itself.  God  said  to  Moses, 
thousands  of  years  ago,  the  priest  "  shall  take  off  from  it 
all  the  fat  of  the  bullock  for  the  sin-offering,  the  fat  that 
covereth  the  inwards,  and  all  the  fat  that  is  upon  the  in- 
wards, and  the  two  kidneys,  and  the  fat  that  is  upon  them ; 
and  the  priest  shall  burn  them  upon  the  altar  of  the  burnt- 
offering." 

When  you  kill  a  bullock  for  a  sick  man,  you  catch  the 
"  blood  in  ba-ins,"  and  your  priest  sprinkles  some  of  the  blood 
upon  the  sick  man,  and  on  his  bed,  and  the  things  in  his  hut. 
Then  he  digs  a  hole  in  the  cattle  kraal—  (the  most  sacred  place 
known  to  a  heathen  Kaffir,  so  much  so,  that  women  are  pre- 
cluded as  from  the  inner  court  of  the  Jewish  temple — and 
pours  the  remainder  of  the  blood  into  the  hole.  God  said  to 
Moses,  "  The  priest  that  is  anointed  shall  take  the  bullock's 
blood,  and  bring  it  to  the  tabernacle,  and  shall  dip  his  finger 
in  the  blood,  and  sprinkle  of  the  blood  seven  times  before 
the  Lord.  He  shall  put  some  of  the  blood  upon  the  horns 
of  the  altar,  and  pour  all  the  rest  of  the  blood  of  the  bullock 
at  the  bottom  of  the  altar  of  the  burnt-offering." 

When  you  offer  a  sacrifice,  you  carry  the  bones  of  the 
bullock  outside  of  the  kraal,  and  burn  them.  God  said  to 
Moses,  "  The  skin  of  the  bullock,  and  all  his  flesh,  with  his 
head,  and  with  his  legs,  and  his  inwards,  and  his  dung, 
even  the  whole  bullock,  shall  be  carried  forth  without  the 
camp  into  a  clean  place,  where  the  ashes  are  poured  out, 
and  burn  him  on  the  wood  with  fire." 

You  see,  my  dear  friends,  from  the  many  things  you  have, 
which  are  so  much  like  the  things  that  God  commanded 
Abraham  and  Moses  to  do,  that  some  of  your  old  fathers 
knew  God  and  his  teachings  to  Moses ;  but  one  generation 
after  another  wandered  away,  like  lost  sheep,  till  you  dcr/t 
know  the  way  to  get  back.  You  have  kept  one  truth,  that 
"  without  the  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission  or 


424  OSBORlf. — TSHUMGWANA. 

6ins ;  "  but  you  have  lost  the  knowledge  of  the  only  Sacrifice 
which  can  take  away  sins,  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ.  You 
have  held  on  to  the  type  or  picture,  but  lost  sight  of  the 
real  substance. 

That,  my  friends,  is  not  the  worst  of  it.  You  offer  your 
sacrifices  not  to  God,  but  to  "  Icanti," — a  great  snake — 
and  to  Imishologu,  who  could  not  help  you  while  they  lived, 
and  how  can  they  help  you  now  that  they  are  gone? 

When  Abraham  offered  a  sacrifice  to  God,  he  confessed 
his  eins,  and  that  for  sins  he  deserved  to  be  put  to  death, 
but  his  bullock  was  accepted,  and  slain  instead  of  himself; 
but  while  he  looked  at  his  bleeding  victim,  he  saw  in  it  but 
a  picture  of  the  bleeding  Jesus,  whom  God  had  promised 
to  send  into  the  world,  as  the  only  sacrifice  which  could 
take  away  sins. 

When  we  come  to  God  in  praying,  confessing  our  sins, 
and  our  exposure  to  the  death-penalty  of  the  law  of  God, 
we  don't  bring  a  bullock,  for  when  the  real  sacrifice  for  the 
sins  of  the  world  came,  then  it  was  no  longer  necessary  to 
use  the  picture  or  type  oi  it,  but  to  look  directly  to  Christ. 
We  have  the  plain  words  of  God's  Book  to  tell  us  the  way, 
and  we  have  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  to  lead  us  to  the  living 
Jesus,  and  by  His  own  precious  blood  He  saves  us  from 
our  sins. 

The  foregoing  are  some  of  the  points  brought  out 
and  illustrated  on  that  occasion.  Many  prodigals 
came  home  to  God  that  day  and  obtained  a  free 
pardon  by  accepting  Christ.  We  preached  again 
in  the  chapel  that  night,  and  God  was  with  us. 

On  Tuesday  we  had  a  larger  number  of  heathen 
than  at  any  previous  service,  among  whom  was  Mak- 
aula  the  Amabaca  Chief.    That  day  we  preached  from 


"  CHOOSE  YE  THIS  DAY  WHOM  YE  YVILL  SERVE."    425 

"  Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve,"  and  tried 
to  influence  them  to  a  right  decision  by  contrasting 
their  system  of  heathenish  superstition  with  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  The  principal  points  were,  First, 
Their  dark  traditions  and  God's  plain  Gospel  teach- 
ing. Second:  Their  sacrifices  to  "Icanti"  and  to 
the  ghosts  of  their  old  dead  fathers,  and  the  "body  " 
God  prepared  and  accepted  as  the  only  sacrifice 
which  can  atone  for  sins.  Third :  Their  vain  hope 
that  Imishologu  will  be  their  mediator  with  Tixo  (or 
God),  and  the  certain  fact  that  we  have  a  Divine 
Advocate  with,  the  Father,  and  the  only  Mediator 
between  God  and  man.  Fourth :  The  broken  reeds 
on  which  they  lean,  their  priests,  poor  ignorant  men 
like  themselves,  the  charms  which  their  priests  bind 
about  their  necks,  with  the  everlasting  doubt  which 
haunts  them,  and  the  utter  failure  of  all  these  things 
to  bring  rest  to  their  souls,  and  on  our  side  the  per- 
sonal knowledge  of  God  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  He 
hath  sent,  attained  by  all  true  believers,  the  security 
of  dwelling  "  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty," 
the  sweet  rest  of  soul  which  Jesus  gives  to  all  who 
come  to  Him,  and  the  abiding  presence  of  the  Holy 
Comforter  God  bath  sent  to  conduct  us  in  peace  to 
our  home  in  heaven. 

In  showing  them  the  folly  of  putting  their  trust 
in  the  charms  or  amulets  they,  wear  round  their 
necks,  instead  of  submitting  themselves  to  Christ 
and  putting  their  trust  in  the  living  God,  I  said, 
"  Your  country  was  invaded  a  few  weeks  ago  by  a 


420  OSBORN. — TSIIUMGWANA. 

large  army  of  the  Amaponclo.  They  came  to  kill 
and  destroy  you  and  to  take  your  cattle.  Did  not 
every  one  of  those  Pondo  warriors  go  to  a  priest  and 
get  a  protection  which  he  thought  would  be  proof 
against  your  assegais  ?  Did  not  the  priest  hang  a 
lot  of  roots,  birds'-claws,  tufts  of  hair,  hoofs  of 
beasts,  and  little  horns,  containing  charmed  stuff, 
round  the  neck  of  each  one  of  them  to  make  them 
courageous  and  strong,  and  to  preserve  them  from 
death  ?  Now,  tell  me,  what  good  did  all  these  things 
do  them  ?  " 

I  then  drew  out  of  my  coat-pocket  a  double  hand- 
ful of  charms,  and  holding  them  up  to  the  astonished 
gaze  of  the  sable  audience  (for  if  one  of  them  should 
touch  anything  from  the  body  of  a  man  slain  in 
battle  they  would  be  sure  of  being  poisoned  or 
bewitched  by  the  touch)  I  said,  "  Look  here  !  what 
a  god  in  time  of  trouble  ?  A  poor  Pondo  got  this  lot 
of  trash  from  a  priest,  and  thought  these  would  save 
him  from  death  in  the  day  of  battle.  What  good 
did  they  do  him  ?  You  slew  him  with  all  his 
charms  on  him,  and  this  morning  my  boy  here  cut 
them  off  the  neck  of  his  carcase,  and  will  you  still 
reject  the  only  true  God,  and  put  your  trust  in 
such  filthy  trash  as  this  ?  The  Pondos  were  in- 
vaders of  your  country  to  rob  and  to  kill  you,  and 
God  delivered  the  rondos  over  to  your  assegais, 
because  you  were  defending  your  homes,  your  cattle, 
your  families,  your  own  lives ;  and  then,  instead  of 
giving  God  credit  for  His  mercy  to  your  nation,  you 


WEEPING    TIME    AMONG    THE    HEATHENS.        427 

had  a  great  ceremony  of  thanks  to  Imishologu,  and 
said  that  your  priests  and  your  charms  made  you 
strong  and  gave  you  the  victory.''  The  foregoing  is 
a  mere  specimen  illustration  of  many  on  that  occa- 
sion adjusted  to  the  capacity  of  their  heathen  minds. 
The  Holy  Spirit's  application  of  truth  and  the  effect 
upon  the  audience  was  quite  indescribable.  Many, 
with  heads  down,  shed  almost  streams  of  tears,  but 
I  observed  one  old  heathen  woman  who  kept  her 
wrinkled  face  up,  in  her  hand  she  had  a  little 
instrument  made  of  bone,  in  very  general  use 
among  them.  It  is  about  six  inches  long,  with  a 
fork  at  one  end,  some  with  two,  others  with  three, 
prongs  about  three  inches  long,  which  are  used  for 
picking  their  teeth,  scratching  their  heads,  and  to 
stick  into  their  hair  as  an  ornament,  the  other  end 
is  cut  into  the  shape  of  a  salt-spoon,  but  not  quite  so 
large,  which  is  used  for  dipping  snuff,  a  favourite 
entertainment  among  the  heathen  as  well  as  among 
the  civilized  people  of  Christian  countries,  but  the 
old  woman,  having  no  handkerchief  to  wipe  away 
her  tears,  used  the  little  spoon  for  scraping  them  up, 
and  tossing  them  away  as  they  settled  down  in  the 
furrows  of  her  face. 

That  night,  being  our  last,  we  had  a  fellowship- 
meeting.  The  chapel  was  packed  somewhat  after 
the  style  of  packing  herrings  in  a  barrel.  At  the 
opening  we  told  the  old  members  that  having  so 
many  new  disciples  present  who  had  received  Christ 
in  their  hearts,  and  were  ready  to  make  confession 


428  OSBORN. — TSHUMGWAXA.. 

with  their  mouths,  we  specially  desired  the  old  ones 
to  tell  us  a  very  short  story. 

Then  an  old  man  got  up  and  said,  that  many  years 
ago,  as  he  was  travelling  from  Shawbury  to  Tshum- 
gwana,  a  lion  jumped  on  him  and  broke  his  back 
and  left  him  lying  there,  nearly  dead.  Several  per- 
sons came  along  and  looked  at  hire,  and  passed  by  on 
the  other  side,  f  inaiiy,  a  man  took  him  to  his  hut, 
and  after  a  long  illness  he  got  well,  and  God  had 
been  very  kind  to  him,  but  he  did  not  tell  us  whether 
or  not  he  had  been  delivered  from  Satan,  "who  goeth 
about  as  a  roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour." 
I  then  said,  "  Lion-stories  are  very  interesting  when 
we  have  time  to  listen  to  them,  but  we  have  no  time 
now  to  hear  anything  but  whether  or  not  you  have 
received  Jesus  Christ  and  got  your  sins  forgiven  ?  " 

Then  another  old  fellow  got  up  and  told  a  dream 
he  had  some  years  before  in  which  a  black  man 
appeared  to  him.  He  thought  it  was  the  devil,  and 
woke  up  in  such  a  fright  that  he  could  not  stay 
there  any  longer,  and  then  he  came  to  live  at  the 
mission-station,  and  had  been  trying  ever  since  to 
serve  God. 

Then  another  arose,  and  said  that  many  years  ago 
lie  was  baptized  at  Shawbury,  by  Mr.  Garner,  and 
drew  out,  what  the  sailors  would  call,  "  a  long  yarn," 
but  with  really  nothing  in  it  to  the  point.  Then 
followed  another,  who,  while  living  at  Shawbury, 
was  sick  a  long  time,  feared  he  should  die,  and  wa3 
not  prepared.  In  his  distress  he  tried  to  pray,  and 
one  evening  he  looked  toward  the  east,  and  saw  Jesus 


GLORIOUS    FELLOWSHIP    MEETING.  429 

Bitting  on  a  cloud,  and  heard  a  voice  saying  unto 
him,  "  Thou  art  a  child  of  God."  Said  I,  "  Charles, 
this  won't  do.  It  gets  worse  and  worse,  not  only 
unedifying,  but  misleading,  for  these  young  converts 
have  not  seen  any  sights,  nor  heard  any  supernatural 
sounds/'  and  we  had  taught  them  not  to  expect 
such  things,  having  a  more  sure  word  of  prophecy 
through  God's  Word  and  the  inward  demonstration 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  so  I  said,  "  Now  we  will  all 
stand  up  and  sing  '  The  Eden  Above.'  "  After  a 
grand  concert  of  melody  of  thrilling  effect  to  men, 
and  probably  to  angels,  I  said,  "  Now  we  will  give 
all  the  rest  of  the  time  of  this  meeting  to  the  young 
1  converts."  Then  within  the  next  fifty  minutes  one 
hundred  and  ten  new  witnesses  came  on  with  their 
simple,  pointed,  stirring  facts.  The  whole  time  of 
the  speaking  was  eighty  minutes,  but  the  old 
"fogies"  at  the  beginning  occupied  about  thirty. 

The  testimony  of  the  new  hands  was  clear,  short, 
and  to  the  point,  with  a  great  variety  of  expression 
and  illustration,  nothing  commonplace  or  formal. 
Two  or  three  illustrative  specimens  may  suffice  here: 
— A  woman  said,  "  When  I  came  to  these  meetings 
I  asked  God  for  *-i  great  gift,  and  He  showed  me  my 
sins  !  I  then  crivo  to  Him  to  save  me,  and  He  gave 
me  Jesus  Christ,  who  saved  me  from  all  my  sins,  and 
filled  my  heart  with  His  love." 

A  man  said,  "  I  was  asleep.  God  opened  my  eyes 
to-day,  and  pardoned  my  sins  for  Christ's  sake,  and 
now  I  have  light." 

Another  man  said,  "  I  have  been  trying  to  serve 


430  OSBORN. — TSHUMG 

God  for  A.vcn  years,  but  I  Lad  an  old  shield  full  of 
holes,  it  would  not  turn  away  the  fiery  darts  •  of 
Satan,  but  last  Sunday  I  saw  that  I  was  one  of  the 
very  worst  of  sinners.  I  cried  to  God,  and  received 
Jesus  Christ  as  my  Saviour.  Now  I  have  peace,  and 
God  has  given  me  a  new  shield." 

That  night,  in  spite  of  the  perils  of  war,  a  large 
number  of  heathen  came  crowding  round  the  chapel, 
unable  to  get  in,  so  in  pity  to  them  we  cut  the  fellow- 
ship-meeting short  in  the  midst  of  a  continuous  press 
of  witnesses  for  Jesus,  and  got  all  who  were  in  the 
chapel  to  go  out  and  let  the  outsiders  come  in. 
After  an  interval  of  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  we 
commenced  a  prayer-meeting  for  seekers,  thirteen  of 
whom  entered  into  liberty.  During  the  series  of 
four  days  at  Tshumgwana,  Rev.  Brother  White  ex- 
amined and  took  the  names  of  167  persons,  a  good 
proportion  of  whom  had  come  to  the  series  as  poor 
heathens,  who  gave  to  him  satisfactory  evidence  of 
having  been  ''justified  by  faith/'  a  small  number 
compared  with  that  of  some  other  places,  but  large 
in  proportion  10  the  population,  and  the  limited  tima 
employed  in  the  series. 


CHAPTEH  XXIV, 

EMFUNDISWENI. 

Our  trip  from  Tshurngwana  to  Einfundisweni  may 
be  sufficiently  illustrated  by  the  following  extract 
from  Stuart's  journal. 

On  Wednesday,  the  22nd  of  August,  1866,  at  half  past 
seven,  a.m.,  we  bade  adieu  to  the  battlefields  of  Tshurn- 
gwana. The  Umzimvubu  drift,  a  few  miles  distant,  is 
very  slippery,  and  hence  considered  very  dangerous.  We 
met  a  lot  of  Hottentots  near  the  river,  and  Mr.  Roberts 
got  some  of  them  to  outspan  and  lead  his  horses  over,  and 
others  to  pull  the  cart.  My  father  drew  his  boots  and 
waded,  but  my  surefooted  "  tripler"  carried  me  over  safely. 

From  the  river  we  had  to  ascend  a  very  steep  hill, 
where  we  again  had  difficulty  with  the  baulky  horse,  but 
finally  mastered  him.  On  a  number  of  hills  adjacent  W3 
saw  lines  of  native  hunters  stationed.  They  stood  about 
half-a-mile  apart,  with  assegais  in  hand,  and  dogs  by  their 
side,  to  intercept  the  herds  of  deer  as  they  fled  towards 
the  river  from  the  driving  hunters  sent  to  the  interior. 
We  saw  some  bucks  ,n  their  flight,  but  had  not  time  to 
wait  to  see  them  surprised  and  taken.  The  distance  from 
Tshumgwana  to  Emfundisweni  is  about  sixty  miles.  The 
country  is   mountainous,  and  the   way  so  rough  that  w°, 


432  EMFUNDISWENI. 

only  travelled  about  forty  miles  that  day.  Having  the 
light  of  a  full  moon,  we  did  not  "out-span  "  for  the  night  till 
about  an  hour  after  dark,  then  coming  to  a  rill  and  a 
grove  of  mimosa-trees,  we  encamped  in  the  '  veldt.'  After 
a  good  tea  by  a  cheerful  log-fire,  we  had  our  evening 
prayers,  and  threw  ourselves  upon  our  beds  of  grass,  and 
soon  fell  into  the  sweet  embrace  of  Morpheus,  and  there, 
upon  us  all,  '  tired  nature's  sweet  restorer,  balmy  sleep,' 
shed  repose  until  the  morning  bade  us  rise  to  the  duties  of 
another  day.  (Our  camp  was  in  sight  of  the  copper  lodes 
which  are  now  attracting  thousands  of  colonists  into  Kaf- 
fraria.)  We  had  some  difficulty  in  finding  the  horses,  and 
feared  some  savage  marauders  had  stolen  them  during  the 
night,  but  finally  lound  them,  and  resumed  our  journey  mid 
wild  mountain  scenery  and  grassy  valleys,  with  occasional 
herds  of  deer,  and  a  few  native  kraals.  We  reached  Em- 
fundisweni  about  two  p.m.,  and  were  most  kindly  received 
by  a  veteran  old  missionary  and  his  heroine  wife,  Rev.  Mr. 
and  Mrs,  Jenkins. 


This  is  a  new  mission-station ;  the  minister's 
house  is  a  one-story  cottage,  substantially  built  of 
brick,  nearly  one  hundred  feet  in  length,  with  ve- 
randahs front  and  rear,  and  contains  nine  rooms. 
The  second  preacher's  house  occupies  a  pretty  site 
aci'oss  a  hollow  on  a  parallel  ridge,  occupied  by  the 
Rev.  Daniel  Eva,  a  zealous  young  missionary  sent 
out  recently  from  England.  The  out-building?, 
beautiful  garden,  and  orchard,  are  enclosed  in  a  good 
palisade  fence,  all  of  which,  with  the  ornamental 
avenue  trees,  the  abundant  supply  of  water  conveyed 
from  the  base  of  a  neighbouring  mountain,  and  the 


ADVENTURES    OP    Mlt.    JENKINS.  433 

pretty  gotliic  chapel  with,  a  bell,  display  the  energy 
and  taste  of  the  master-mind  of  the  old  missionary. 

The  present  chapel,  to  seat  about  three  hundred, 
is  to  be  the  school-house,  when  the  large  substantial 
church  contemplated,  shall  have  been  built.  Faku, 
the  old  Amapondo  chief,  who  lives  in  a  small,  filthy 
"hut,  has  contributed  largely  toward  these  fine  mis- 
sion improvements.  This  is  the  third  mission-station 
established  in  Pondo-land,  preceded  by  Buntingville 
and  Palmerton. 

The  best  illustration  I  can  give  of  Christian  ad- 
ventures, patient  toils,  sufferings,  and  successes  in 
Pondo-land,  may  be  gathered  from  the  following 
facts,  which  were  told,  and  afterwards  penned  in  a 
letter  to  me  by  the  heroic  old  missionary  himself.  I 
give  it  verbatim,  except  to  put  in  his  name,  instead 
of  the  pronoun  representing  it,  and  a  very  slight  re- 
construction of  a  few  sentences  :— 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Jenkins  was  appointed  to  labour  in 
Amapondo-land,  in  the  year  183S.  He  had  been  for 
some  years  in  the  Bechuana  country,  had  seen  much  of 
what  sin  and  the  Prince  of  Darkness  can  do  in  debasing 
man,  the  noblest  work  of  God,  while  labouring  among 
Griquas,  Bechuanas,  Corannos,  and  Basutos  ;  but  had  really 
seen  nothing  compared  with  the  low,  dark,  brutish  hea- 
thenism of  the  Pondos.  In  a  perfect  state  of  nudity,  their 
very  appearance  was  most  revolting.  When  a  few  of  them 
first  came  round  the  missionary's  wagon,  Mrs.  Jenkins 
almost  fainted  away.  Wars  and  blood-shedding  for  gene- 
rations had  completely  brutalized  them.  Wars  were  raging 
at  that  time,  both  among  themselves  and  their  neighbours, 

F  F 


434  EMFUNDISWENI. 

and  the  missionary  and  his  wife  had  many  a  narrow  escape 
with  their  lives.  But  a  few  weeks  after  their  arrival  in 
"  Icume"  (Buntingville),  Mr.  Jenkins  went  away  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  distant  to  a  district-meeting,  and  while 
there  the  report  reached  him  that  the  "  Ficani,"  the  Zulu 
marauders,  had  devastated  all  the  intermediate  countries  of 
the  Tamhookies  lying  between  him  and  his  family,  from  the 
Umtata  to  the  Bashe  rivers,  and  had  burnt  Morley  Station, 
destroyed  Icume,  and  that  his  catechist  and  family,  and  also 
Mrs.  Jenkins  were  dead.  The  sun  had  set  when  these  evil 
tidings  reached  him.  In  company  with  his  native  interpre- 
ter, he  at  once  set  out  to  know  the  worst.  After  riding 
fifty  miles,  he  found  sure  enough  that  the  "  Ficani "  had 
laid  waste  all  the  Tambookie  country.  The  ashes  of  their 
villages  AYere  still  smoking.  During  that  night  of  terrors, 
as  he  was  travelling  along  near  the  Bashe  river,  his  life 
was  in  great  jeopardy.  A  body  of  Tambookie  warriors  lay 
in  ambush  watching  for  the  return  of  some  of  the  invading 
hordes,  and  hearing  the  approach  of  Brother  Jenkins  and 
his  interpreter,  took  it  for  granted  that  they  were  some  ot 
the  straggling  Zulus.  They  concealed  themselves  behind 
the  bushes  near  the  path,  and  suddenly  rushed  out  upon 
the  missionary  with  drawn  assegais.  Just  in  the  act  ot 
their  deadly  aim  they  perceived  that  he  was  a  white  man, 
and  a  friend,  and  their  assegais  fell  from  their  hands. 
About  ten  o'clock  the  next  night  they  again  rode  into  the 
jaws  of  death.  They  came  suddenly  upon  a  band  of  Pondo 
warriors,  who,  mistaking  them  for  the  enemy,  rushed  to 
their  arms,  and  being  close  upon  them,  in  another  moment 
the  missionary  and  his  companion  would  have  been  killed, 
but  for  the  instinctive  sudden  "face  about"  and  flight 
of  their  horses,  stimulated  by  the  rush  of  the  pursuing 
warriors.  On  and  on  they  went  for  miles  out  of  their 
coarse,  and  thus  lost  their  bearings.     The  darkness  and 


PERILOUS   ADVENTURES.  435 

manifest  dangers  of  the  night  were  rendered  more  gloomy 
by  torrents  of  rain.  They  came  to  a  river  flooded  by  tho 
recent  rains,  till,  to  all  human  appearance,  it  was  quite  im- 
passable." 

There  they  were  as  desolate  as  old  David  on  the 
hill  Mizar  on  Mount  Hernion,  when  he  exclaimed, 
"  Deep  calleth  unto  deep  at  the  noise  of  thy  water- 
spouts ;  all  Thy  waves  and  Thy  billows  have  gone 
over  me."  Behind  the  missionary  and  his  faithful 
Kaffir  was  a  band  of  infuriated  warriors,  in  front  of 
the  raging  river.  "We  plunged  in,"  says  Jenkins  ; 
"  but  how  we  got  out,  the  Lord  alone  knoweth ;  but 
by  His  merciful  Providence,  we  did  get  out  on  the 
opposite  side.  Then,  after  a  long  search,  we  found 
the  footpath,  thanked  God,  and  took  courage.  TVe 
were  nearly  exhausted,  but  nearing  our  journey,  the 
stimulus  of  hope  and  fear  of  the  joyous  or  mournful 
scene  in  prospect,  kept  us  up  and  on  our  weary  way. 
At  the  dawn  of  the  morning,  we  came  in  sight  of 
our  humble  home  in  the  wilderness,  and  to  our  inex- 
pressible joy,  embraced  our  dear  ones  in  life  and 
health.  They  had  suffered  great  fear  from  the 
rumours  of  war  around  them,  but  had  been  preserved 
in  safety." 

Their  daily  hazards  of  life,  however,  from  enemies 
at  home,  were  almost  as  great  as  those  occasioned  by 
the  invasion  of  foreign  foes ;  as  may  be  illustrated 
by  the  following  incident  which  occurred  but  a  few 
months   after    those    terrible    wars.      Mr.    Jenkina 


436  EMFUNDISWENI. 

1  was  out  some  distance  from  the  mission-station,  where 
a  number  of  my  people  were  at  work,  when  a  party  of 
marauding  Pondos,  who  were  returning  from  a  nightly 
incursion  upon  some  of  their  neighbours,  passed  by  us.  I 
spoke  to  them,  and  remonstrated  against  their  thievish, 
murderous  business.  One  of  the  party  took  offence,  and 
said  I  had  no  riyht  to  interfere  with  their  calling,  and 
suddenly  he  got  into  such  a  rage,  that  he  drew  his  assegai 
and  made  a  drive  at  me,  and  would  have  thrust  me  through 
in  an  instant,  but  as  he  drew  back  to  throw  the  fatal  dart, 
a  man  behind  seized  his  arm,  and  I  was  saved.  One  of 
our  station  men  became  so  alarmed,  that,  without  waiting 
to  see  the  result,  he  ran  home  shouting,  "  The  Umfundisi  is 
killed  !  The  Umfimdisi  is  stabbed  to  death  with  an  assegai  I  " 

The  men  of  the  station,  though  few  in  number,  seized 
their  assegais,  and  rushed  forth  to  avenge  the  death  of 
their  missionary ;  the  women  and  children  fled  into  the 
forests  to  hide  themselves.  Mrs.  Jenkins  in  the  general 
fright,  took  up  her  niece,  a  child  of  six  years,  and  started 
off  with  the  rest,  but  in  a  few  moments  recovered  her  equa- 
nimity, and  exclaimed — "  I  will  not  fly  !  I  am  in  the 
Lord's  hands,  if  lie  delivers  me  over  to  the  Pondos  they 
shall  kill  me  in  my  own  house  !  "  She  at  once  returned  to 
the  house,  but  the  native  women  ran  on  into  the  wild  woods. 
During  the  first  few  years  of  missionary  life  among  the 
Pondos,  but  few  months  passed  without  alarms,  to  the 
effect  that  the  mission  was  to  be  burned  and  all  the  mission 
people  killed.  They  could  indeed  say  with  the  Psalmist, 
•  the  wicked  plotteth  against  the  just,  and  gnasheth  upon 
h;m  with  his  teeth.  The  wicked  have  drawn  out  the  sword 
and  have  bent  their  bow,  to  cast  down  the  poor  and  needy, 
and  to  slay  such  as  be  of  upright  conversation."  Yet, 
"  the  steps  of  a  good  man  are  ordered  by  the  Lord,  and  He 
delighteth  in  his  way.     Though  he  fall,  he  shall  not  be 


MITCH- DOCTORS    AND    WIZARDS.  437 

utterly  cast  down,  for  the  Lord  upboldeth  him  with  His 
hand." 

WITCHCRAFT. 

In  addition  to  the  facts  recorded  in  previous 
chapters,  illustrating  the  horrors  of  witchcraft,  or 
rather  of  the  witch-doctors,  I  will  give  a  few  facts 
from  the  pen  of  Brother  Jenkins,  as  follows  : — 

Under  the  pretext   of  witchcraft,  it  was  common  almost 
every  week  to  see   houses,   and  sometimes  whole  villages 
burnt ;  and  the  most  horrible  tortures  inflicted  upontheir 
owners,  often  resulting  in  their  death. 

In  no  part  of  South  Africa  was  this  horrible  thing  carried 
on  to  the  same  extent  as  in  Pondo-land.  These  things  I 
have  seen,  when  on  my  tours,  preaching  for  weeks  together 
from  kraal  to  kraal.  On  one  of  those  tours  I  came  to  a 
small  valley,  where  five  kraals  bad  just  been  burnt  to  the 
ground,  by  order  of  Faku's  brother,  Umcwenge.  The  witch- 
doctor, or  priest,  had  sentenced  the  whole  population  of 
those  kraals  to  death,  by  the  most  excruciating  tortures 
that  men  and  devils  could  invent.  The  exterminating 
decree  was  so  terrible,  that  not  even  a  dog  should  be 
allowed  to  escape ;  and  thus  every  dog,  man,  woman,  and 
child  in  that  valley  perished. 

A  case  which  occurred  near  Palmerton  mission- 
station,  not  far  from  Brother  Jenkins'  house,  may 
suffice  to  illustrate  one  of  many  methods  employed 
by  those  diabolical  doctors,  and  the  slaves  of  their 
superstition,  to  render  even  the  terrors  of  death  a 
thousand-fold  more  terrible. 

A  poor  woman  was  accused  of  bewitching  some- 
body, and   the  doctor  ordered  that  she  should  be 


438  EMFUND1SWENI. 

tied  to  a  post  in  front  of  her  own  hut,  and  by 
slow  tortures  roasted  to  death.  A  glance  at  tho 
accompanying  cut  will  give  an  idea  of  the  tragio 
scene.  It  is  too  horrible  to  gaze  upon  !  But  if  to 
look  at  a  mere  picture  is  so  horrible,  what  must  be 
the  effect  on  the  heart  of  the  missionary  living  in 
the  midst  of  such  realities,  what  the  horrible 
degradation  of  those  who  inflict  such  tortures,  what 
the  pains  of  the  poor  wretches  who  endure  them  ? 
A  sublime  charity  is  the  missionary  enterprise, 
and  what  a  work  of  mercy  is  the  missionary's  self- 
sacrificing  life  !  "  The  dark  places  of  the  earth  are 
full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty."  After  all  the  talk 
we  are  accustomed  to  hear  about  the  virtues  of  the 
heathen,  and  the  inherent  goodness  of  human  nature, 
the  awful  fact  still  stands  out,  that  all  is  dense  dark- 
ness where  the  Gospel  is  not  preached ;  and  although 
many  who  hear  it  do  not  accept  Jesus  Christ,  still 
they  are  indebted  to  its  elevating  influence  for  all 
the  blessings  they  enjoy  above  the  common  lot  of  the 
heathen.  The  day  the  poor  woman  was  roasted  to 
death,  a  young  man  came  to  Brother  Jenkins  so 
severely  burnt,  as  scarcely  to  be  recognized  as  a 
human  being.  It  was  a  son  of  the  woman  who  was 
being  burned  at  the  stake,  as  the  best  blood  even  of 
Christian  England  used  to  be  treated  in  Smithfield. 
The  young  fellow  yielded  to  his  filial  instincts,  and 
tried  to  intercede  for  his  dying  mother.  Her  tor- 
menters  rushed  at  him,  seized  him,  and  threw  him 
headlong  into   the  flames    from  which   with  great 


WITCHCRAFT  AND  THE  GOSPEL.        439 

difficulty  he  managed  to  extricate  himself,  and  fled 
to  the  missionary,  under  whose  kind  treatment  he 
recovered,  and  is  now  living  in  Natal. 

INFLUENCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL  ON  WITCHCRAFT. 

"It  would  occupy  too  much  space/'  says  Mr. 
Jenkins,  "  to  tell  of  all  the  lives  saved  through  the 
agency  of  the  missionary.  His  very  home  is  a 
sanctuary  to  which  the  suffering  refugee  may  flee 
and  be  safe." 

Just  before  my  visit  to  Palmerton,  a  man  who  had 
escaped  the  death-sentence  for  a  suspicion  of  being 
a  wizard,  by  fleeing  to  the  station,  after  remaining 
there  in  safety  for  some  months,  became  emboldened, 
and  though  warned  of  danger,  had  crossed  the  sta- 
tion lines,  and  was  at  once  arrested  and  tortured  to 
death. 

Every  accident  to  a  chief,  or  sickness  of  any  kind, 
has  always  been  attributed  to  witchcraft,  and  they 
believe  that  there  can  be  no  recovery  till  the  wizard 
is"smelled  out"  and  banished.  Christianity  is  slowly 
sapping  the  foundations  of  this  murderous  old  system, 
as  may  be  illustrated  by  the  following  facts  from  Mr. 
Jenkins. 

"Faku's  mother,  I  think,  was  a  true  Christian. 
She  died  about  twelve  years  ago,  and  left  strict 
orders  that  there  should  be  no  '  smelling  out '  on  her 
account,  which  orders  were  obeyed. 

"  Faku's  great  wife,  we  have  cause  to  believe,  died 
in  the  Lord,  and  she  would  allow  no  one  to  be  put  to 


440  EMFUNDISWENI. 

death  on  her  account.  One  of  Faku's  sons  died  a 
Christian.  His  good  conduct  so  endeared  him  to  the 
whole  tribe,  that  his  death  was  an  occasion  of  mourn- 
ing throughout  the  nation.  The  witch-doctors  made 
it  out  that  he  died  through  the  Word  of  God,  and 
hence  no  one  was  put  to  death  for  him." 

The  son  of  this  good  young  chief  was  converted 
to  God  during  our  series  of  services  at  Emfundisweni, 
and  Brother  Jenkins  tells  me  by  letter  that  he  is 
growing  in  grace  and  usefulness. 

The  old  chief  Faku  was  very  ill  a  few  years  ago, 
and  the  doctors  would  not  allow  any  person  to  see 
him.  As  the  case  was  of  such  vast  moment,  involv- 
ing the  life  of  the  great  chief,  there  must  be  a  grand 
"  smelling  out/'  and  a  victim  worthy  of  such  an 
occasion.  A  chief,  Faku's  own  brother,  Cingo,  was 
declared  by  the  doctors  to  be  the  leading  wizard  who 
had  bewitched  the  great  chief,  and  he  was  accordingly 
sentenced  to  torture  and  death.  Tidings  of  these 
proceedings  reached  the  mission-station,  and  Brother 
Jenkins  considered  it  unsafe  to  interfere,  but  Mrs. 
Jenkins,  with  tears  and  entreaties,  persuaded  him  at 
the  hazard  of  his  life,  to  go  and  try  to  dissuade  Faku 
from  having  his  brother  put  to  death.  "  I  went," 
says  Jenkins,  "  with  fear  and  trembling.  It  was 
a  long  time  before  the  doctors  would  allow  Faku  to 
be  told  I  had  come.  "When  he  heard  of  my  arrival, 
and  expressed  a  wish  to  see  me,  the  doctors  would 
not  allow  me  to  seo  him  in  his  royal  hut  in  which  he 
lay,  so  by  his  order  ho  was  carried  into  another  hut, 


CHIEF    FAKIRS    "  WILD   CATS."  44  L 

where  I  was  allowed  to  see  him.  His  condemned 
brother  was  present,  and  from  his  dejected  appear- 
ance it  was  evident  that  he  apprehended  a  speedy 
execution.  After  some  preliminary  remarks  Faku 
said,  'Teacher,  do  you  see  how  some  of  my  own 
people  hate  me,  in  sending  the  wild  cats  to  kill 
me  ? '  His  meaning  was  that  they  had  bewitched 
him. 

"  I  replied,  '  Faku,  to  my  certain  knowledge  there 
is  not  a  man  in  the  tribe  who  would  do  such  a  thing 
against  his  chief  and  father.  They  love  you  too  well 
to  think  of  doing  such  a  thing.' 

"  '  Do  you  think  so  ? '  he  inquired,  with  evident 
surprise. 

"  '  I  am  sure  of  it.'  This  led  the  way  to  a  free 
range  of  conversation,"  says  Jenkins,  "  by  which 
I  fairly  won  his  confidence.  I  then  said  to  him, 
1  Faku,  Mrs.  Jenkins,  whom  you  know  is  your  best 
friend,  entreated  me  with  cries  and  tears,  and  would 
give  me  no  rest  till  I  consented  to  come  to  you,  and 
try  to  save  your  brother  Cingo  from  death  ! '  There 
sat  the  condemned  Cingo,  under  the  dark  shadow  of 
death,  listening  to  all  that  was  said  on  both  sides. 
'  Faku,  I  plead  for  the  life  of  your  brother  Cingo, 
because  I  know  he  is  not  guilty,  and  I  know  you  are 
not  the  man  to  stain  your  hands  with  the  innocent 
blood  of  your  own  brother  ! '  Faku  hesitated  a  few 
moments  in  deep  thought,  for  it  is  a  very  serious 
business  even  for  a  great  chief  to  ignore  the  judg- 
ment of  the  witch-doctors,  then  lifting  up  his  eyes, 


442  EMFUNDISAVENI. 

he  said  emphatically,  '  My  Urafundisi,  you  have 
saved  Cingo  !  He  shall  not  be  killed  ! '  Oh,  to 
have  seen,"  exclaims  .Jenkins,  "  the  effect  of  that 
announcement  on  Cingo!  It  was  quite  beyond  any 
power  of  description,  his  eyes  flashed  with  rap- 
turous joy,  and  he  hardly  knew  how  to  contain  him- 
self. He  was  saved  that  day  from  death,  and  is 
still  alive,  and  very  anxious  to  have  religious  ser- 
vices at  his  village  as  often  as  possible.  One  of  his 
sons  comes  every  fortnight,  sixteen  miles,  to  attend 
our  Sabbath  services,  and  is  a  promising  young 
chief. 

"  Witchcraft  is  now  altogether  on  the  wane  in 
Pondo-land,  and  I  hope,"  says  the  good  old  veteran, 
"  that  it  will  soon  be  no  more.'" 

DEBASING  EFFECTS  OF  HEATHENISM  ON  THE  MIND. 

The  details  of  their  legalized  systematic  customs 
of  adultery  and  fornication  are  too  polluting  for  the 
public  eye,  even  in  print.  They  had  not  only  reached 
the  lowest  ebb  in  morals,  but  even  the  minds  of 
the  people  seemed  to  be  thoroughly  darkened  and 
debased,  so  that  it  was  very  difficult  to  get  them  to 
grasp  any  abstract  truth.  "  Hence/'  saj^s  Jenkins, 
"  a  thousand  questions  from  them  such  as  these, 
'  If   there  is    a    God  why    can't  we    see    Him  ? ' 

" '  Why  don't  He  show  Himself  that  we  may  know 
Him  ? '  '  Where  does  He  live  ? '  '  How  many  wives 
has  He  got  ? '  '  If  we  have  souls,  what  are  they  like?  " 
*  How  is  it  that  we  can't  see  them  ?  '     And,  finally, 


"i    WANT   TO    FIND    COD    AND    SEE    HIM."        413 

1  If  sinners  are  to  bo  punished  in  another  world, 
then,  when  we  come  to  die,  we  will  put  our  hands 
upon  our  mouths  and  stifle  our  souls,  that  they  may 
perish  with  our  bodies.5  " 

"  I  remember  being  at  a  hut  one  night,"  continued 
Jenkins,  "  and  after  closing  a  service  by  prayer, 
the  hostess  lighted  a  rush-candle,  and  diligently 
searched  every  nook  and  corner,  and  even  the  inside 
of  her  pots,  and  when  asked  '  AY  hat  are  you  looking 
for  ? '  she  replied,  '  I  want  to  find  God  and  see  Him. 
The  teacher  has  been  telling  us  that  He  is  here, 
but  I  can't  see  Him  anywhere.' " 

These  are  but  specimen  facts  illustrating  the  state 
of  those  heathens  thirty  }rears  ago.  The  great  masses 
of  the  tribe  are  still  heathens,  but  there  has  been  a 
gradual  improvement  in  their  minds  and  morals. 
"  Theft  and  robbery  among  each  other  in  this  tribe/' 
says  Jenkins,  "  seldom  ever  occurs,  and  though  they 
keep  up  predatory  wars  with  neighbouring  tribes, 
neither  the  Government  of  Cape  Colony  nor  of  Natal 
has  ever  had  a  single  case  of  complaint  against 
Faku  and  his  people.  It  was  the  only  tribe  that  wa8 
not  more  or  less  led  away  by  the  mad  infatuation, 
originating  with  an  influential  prophet  in  Krilie's 
tribe  a  few  years  ago,  under  which  the  people  de- 
stroyed their  cattle.  The  oracle  announced  that 
there  would  soon  be  a  resurrection  of  their  fathers, 
iind  of  all  their  cattle,  and  all  who  believed  it  and 
would  destroy  their  cattle  should  be  sharers  in  this 
unending  supply  of  new  cattle,  but  the  people  wno 


Aii  EMFUND1SWEN1. 

would  not  yield  obedience  and  destroy  their  cattle, 
should  not  only  forfeit  the  blessedness  of  this  new 
creation,  but  should  become  moths.  Express  mes- 
sengers were  sent  to  Faku  from  this  prophet,  and 
the  chiefs,  who  were  in  league  with  him,  demanding 
that  the  Pondos  should  destroy  all  their  cattle  or 
become  a  nation  of  moths.  Faku  listened  to  their 
statements,  and  replied,  '  In  all  great  matters  of  this 
kind  I  have  been  accustomed  to  listen  to  my  mis- 
sionary. I  will  send  for  him  and  hear  what  he  has 
to  say,  and  be  guided  by  his  counsel/  The  messengers 
tried  to  dissuade  him  from  this,  but  seeing  that  he 
would  not  move  in  the  matter  without  his  missionary, 
they  took  their  sudden  departure  out  of  his  country." 

POLYGAMY. 

The  practical  workings  of  this  ancient  institution 
of  iniquity  are  illustrated  by  the  following  facts  from 
Mr.  Jenkins  : — "  Polygamy  is  the  most  fruitful  source 
of  nearly  every  evil  in  this  country.  Unnumbered 
women  as  well  as  men  used  to  be  'smelled  out*  and 
put  to  death  in  consequence  of  the  jealousies  and 
quarrels  growing  out  of  this  system. 

"  I  knew  a  case  sometime  ago  of  a  man  who  had 
two  wives.  They  were  constantly  quarrelling,  and 
one  day  one  of  the  women  bit  a  piece  out  of  the 
other's  cheek,  and  in  return,  at  another  time,  she 
bit  the  other  woman's  nose  right  oif ! 

"To  the  people  who  have  lived  any  length  of  time 
on  the  mission-station,  polygamy  becomes  intolerable. 


"I    11  [5^         V«A>)    NO    WirE    AT    ALL."  445 

A  man  who  lived  for  a  time  at  our  station  and  was 
married  according  to  the  Christian  form,  afterwards 
left,  and  went  to  live  among  the  heathen.  In  course  of 
time  he  took  a  second  wife  in  spite  of  the  earnest 
remonstrances  of  his  first.  Such  quarrels  ensued 
between  the  two  women,  that  the  man  could  have  no 
peace.  He  then  took  a  third  wife,  with  the  hope 
that  as  there  would  be  two  against  one,  he  would 
surely  get  out  of  the  scrape  ;  but  alas  !  he  soon 
found  that  his  case  was  more  complicated  and  des- 
perate than  ever  before.  I  met  him  sometime  after- 
wards, and  said  he  to  me,  '  my  life  is  a  dogging  out 
of  perfect  misery  !  I  wish  I  had  no  wife  at  all !  ' 
"  The  result  was,  that  his  first  wife  left  him  and  her 
children  also,  and  went  off  300  miles  to  Graham's 
Town.  You  may  readily  conceive,  when  the  sons 
of  these  women  grow  up,  the  hatred  to  each  other 
which  will  grow  up  with  them,  and  give  employ- 
ment and  emolument  to  the  witch-doctors. 

"To  know  the  degradation,  sin,  and  misery  of 
heathenism  a  man  must  live  among  them.  The  halt 
has  never  been  told,  and  cannot  be,  and  but  for  our 
faith  in  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  and  its  adap- 
tation to  raise  and  transform  every  grade  of  human 
kind,  we  should  utterly  despair  of  its  efficacy  in  thi" 
land,  but  we  must  obey  the  Gospel  mandate,  'Go 
ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature,'  and  leave  the  result  with  Him  who 
gave  the  command.  The  direct  and  indirect  results 
of  the  Gospel  among  the  Pondos  may  be  summed  up 


446  EMFUNMSWENI. 

as  follows  : — "We  found  them  a  blood-thirsty,  war- 
like race.  They  are  now  comparatively  a  peace- 
loving  people. 

"  They  were  so  destitute  of  clothing  that,  in  travel- 
ling among  them  for  weeks,  and  sleeping  in  their 
kraals,  I  have  not  seen  a  particle  of  clothing,  except 
occasionally  a  piece  of  a  goat  or  sheep-skin  a  foot 
square,  or  a  few  rushes  sown  together ;  but  now 
woollen  or  cotton  blankets  are  to  be  found  in  every 
hut. 

"  Twenty-five  years  ago  not  a  cow  or  even  a  goat 
could  be  purchased  at  any  price  in  all  Pondo-land. 
I  knew  a  trader  who  came  with  a  wagon-load  of 
goods  for  trade,  and  after  spending  five  or  six 
months,  he  bought  an  inferior  lot  of  calves  to  the 
value  of  £7  10s.,  which  the  missionary  had  previously 
secured  for  his  own  family  use.  Now  thousands  of 
cattle  are  bought  and  sent  out  of  the  country  an- 
nually, and  there  are  many  successful  traders  esta- 
blished in  the  country. 

"  The  wooden  spade  was  formerly  the  only  instru- 
ment used  in  tilling  the  ground ;  but  now,  within  a 
very  recent  period,  a  single  house  in  Natal  sold 
20,000  hoes  and  picks  to  the  Pondos,  besides  many 
ploughs,  and  a  few  wagons.  These  facts  are  but 
an  index  to  the  general  progress  in  every  department 
of  industry,  and  of  household  economy  and  com- 
forts. 

"  As  for  direct  spiritual  results,"  continues  the  old 
missionary,  "  the  light  of  eternity  will  reveal  the  ezm 


"  I    AM    GOING   TO   THE   KING    ABOVE."  417 

tent  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  saving  work  among  the 
Pondos,  yet  we  have  seen  many  who  testified  in  life 
and  in  death,  that  the  Gospel  to  them  was  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation ;  some  of  them  were  very 
triumphant  in  the  hour  of  death,  knowing  that  they 
were  going  to  the  better  land.  I  have  known  and 
heard  of  not  a  few  among  them  who  heard  the  Gos- 
pel, embraced  Christ,  and  died  in  the  Lord.  A 
young  heathen  man,  a  few  years  ago,  attended  our 
services  regularly,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  his 
friends,  who  accused  him  of  wishing  to  become  an 
Englishman,  till  he  suddenly  disappeared.  I  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  he  was  put  to  death,  and 
preferred  to  die  as  a  martyr  than  to  give  up  Christ. 

"  An  old  heathen  was  brought  to  God  years  ago  at 
Palmerton.  When  I  left  that  station  to  remove  to 
this,  I  advised  him  to  remain,  but  he  said,  '  No,  you 
brought  me  to  God,  and  nothing  but  death  shall 
separate  us.'  Soon  after  his  arrival  here  he  took 
ill  and  died.  The  evening  before  his  death  he  said, 
'  The  King  has  sent  to  call  me  !  What  am  I  that 
I  should  refuse  to  go  ? '  In  his  last  moments  he 
said,  '  I  am  going  to  the  King  above  ! '  A  moment 
after  he  was  gone. 

"A  few  years  ago  an  old  Pondo  drank  so  deeply  of 
the  wormwood  and  the  gall,  that  he  had  often  to  be 
carried  home  from  the  chapel.  He  found  peace,  and 
was  made  very  happy  in  the  love  of  God.  Ho  had 
a  brother  who  tried  by  every  means  to  get  him  back 
to  heathenism.     When  his  arguments  failed,  he  re- 


413  EMFUNDISWKXI. 

solved  to  murder  him,  and  knowing  where  he  went 
daily  to  pray  alone  in  the  bush,  he  took  his  assegai 
and  followed  him  with  the  intention  of  stabbing  him 
to  death.  The  murderer  came  stealthily  up  to  the 
sacred  precincts  of  the  good  man's  bower  of  prayer, 
where  the  prostrate  Kaffir  was  doubtless  defended  by 
a  body-guard  of  angels  from  heaven.  He  quite  suc- 
ceeded in  his  purpose  of  coming  up  close  enough  to 
drive  his  assegai  through  his  brother's  back  with- 
out being  discovered  by  him,  but  there  he  stood  and 
looked  at  a  man  in  audience  with  God,  and  heard 
him  tell  his  great  "  Inkosi "  all  his  griefs,  and  plead 
for  his  wicked  brother.  The  assegai  dropped  from 
his  hand,  for  the  Holy  Spirit's  two-edged  sword  was 
piercing  him,  and  he  fell  to  the  earth  and  cried  for 
mercy.  He  soon  after  found  peace  with  God,  and 
became  an  Israelite  indeed.  Some  time  after  the 
conversion  of  this  persecutor,  he,  with  others  was 
called  upon  by  the  Governor  of  Cape  Colony  during 
the  war  of  1852,  to  go  and  fight  the  belligerent 
Kaffirs,  Faku  and  his  people  being  allies  of  the  Co- 
lony. 

When  this  converted  heathen  received  the  order 
to  report  himself  for  service  in  the  colonial  allied 
troops,  he  went  to  Mr.  Jenkins  and  said,  "  V m. f undid ^ 
do  you  see  this  arm  ?  stretching  out  his  right  hand. 
With  this  arm  I  have  killed  many  a  man  in  war; 
but  when  God  gave  me  a  new  heart,  I  vowed  to  Him 
that  I  never  would  kill  another,  not  even  to  sa-ve 
my  own  life,  and  I  cannot  go  !"    To  relieve  his  case, 


PALMERTON.  449 

Mr.  Jenkins  gave  him  letters  to  carry  to  Natal,  and 
thus  going  on  postal  duty  for  the  missionary,  he  was 
not  pressed  into  military  service.  "He  lived  from 
the  day  of  his  conversion,"  says  his  missionary,  "a 
faithful  servant  of  God,  and  died  in  the  triumphs  oi 
faith."  The  foregoing  are  but  specimen  examples 
of  a  great  many  cases,  illustrating  the  saving  work 
of  God  in  those  dark  regions. 

Our  little  party  arrived  at  Emfundisweni  Thursday 
afternoon,  the  23rd  of  August,  and  preached  that 
night,  also  on  Friday  mid-day  and  evening.  At  the 
three  servicer  Brother  Jenkins  reported  over  sixty 
souls  saved.  On  Saturday,  my  friend,  Mr.  Alfred 
"White,  who  first  suggested  my  trip  through  KafFra- 
ria,  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Jenkins,  drove  me  thirty  miles 
westward  to  Palmerton.  Its  native  name  is  Izala. 
We  left  Charles  Pamla  to  push  on  the  work  with 
Brother  Jenkins ;  Brother  Roberts  and  Stuart  ac- 
companied us  on  horseback,  and  went,  on  the  follow- 
ing week,  forty  miles  further,  to  the  Umzimvubu 
mouth,  and  ascended  the  "  eastern  gate/'  an  almost 
perpendicular  height  of  1,200  feet.  My  limited 
space  precludes  the  details  of  their  romantic  adven- 
tures down  this  Hippopotami  Eiver,  and  of  my 
labours  at  Palmerton.  I  may  simply  remark,  we 
reached  Palmerton  in  the  rain  which  continued  for 
four  days,  so  that  we  did  not  get  the  heathen  beyond 
the  station  lines  to  hear  us.  My  interpreter  there 
was  the  teacher  of  the  native  school,  a  fine  young 
fellow  from  Yerulam,  Natal ;  but  his  knowledge  of 

G  o 


450  EMFUNDISWENI. 

English  was  too  limited  for  very  effective  preach- 
ing, and  hence,  though  most  kindly  entertained  by 
the  missionary,  llev.  John  Allsop,  and  his  good  wife, 
it  was  a  time  of  great  trial  to  me.  It  is  a  beautiful 
station,  but  in  a  low  spiritual  state,  and  greatly 
needing  help,  and  not  to  be  able  to  lead  them  on  to 
certain  victory,  because  I  could  not  talk  to  them, 
was  too  bad  ;  but  there  was  no  help  for  it,  and  I 
patiently  submitted.  About  thirty  persons,  however, 
were  added  to  the  church  at  Palmerton,  during  our 
crippled  series. 

"We  returned  to  Emfundisweni  on  Friday  the  31st, 
and  were  greatly  cheered  by  the  accounts  of  the  hard 
fighting  and  glorious  victories,  achieved  under  the 
leadership  of  Brother  Jenkins  and  Charles.  The 
heavy  rains  we  encountered  thirty  miles  nearer  the 
sea  had  not  extended  to  them  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  interfere  with  their  services.  I  then  saw  clearly 
that  God  had  hid  me  away  at  Palmerton  that  He 
might  show  to  the  old  missionary  and  the  Pondo 
nation,  in  the  person  of  Charles  Pamla,  what  kind  of 
agents  lie  designs  to  employ  in  the  evangelization 
of  the  tribes  of  Africa,  a  thing  that  none  of  them 
believed  before,  or  could  doubt  afterwards.  I  was 
glad  to  step  aside,  and  yield  the  palm  to  my  sable 
brother. 

I  had  taken  great  pleasure  in  teaching  Charles 
leading  principles  in  psychology,  logic,  and  the 
mysteries  of  salvation  simplified,  so  as  to  make  him 
11  a  workman   that   needeth   not   to   be  ashamed.*' 


GRAND    FIGHT    WITH   THE    HEATHEN.  451 

He  has  a  philosophic  cast  of  mind,  can  grasp  the 
most  abstruse  principles  readily,  forgets  nothing 
worth  remembering,  and  after  interpreting  my  ser- 
mons twice  per  day  for  nearly  two  months,  it  became 
a  work  of  supererogation  for  me  to  preach  through 
him,  for  he  could  do  it  as  well,  or  better,  without  me. 
I  had  prayed  that  God  would  allow  me  to  remain,  at 
least  a  few  years,  to  lead  a  victorious  host  of  native 
evangelists  into  the  interior  of  Africa;  but  I  now 
saw  that  God  wculd  answer  my  prayer  indirectly, 
by  giving  my  mantle  to  my  Elisha,  and  take  me 
away,  if  not  to  heaven,  to  some  other  part  of  His 
vast  dominions,  where  lie  may  have  greater  use  for 
me. 

Brother  Jenkins  and  Charles  had  carried  on  the 
services  in  the  chapel,  over  the  Sabbath  and  Monday 
night. 

On  Tuesday,  they  removed  their  "base  "  to  a  chiefs 
kraal,  some  fifteen  miles  distant,  and  opened  a  direct 
fire  upon  the  heathen,  and  stirring  times  they  had 
indeed.  Each  service  was  commenced  with  direct 
familiar  conversation  with  the  heathen,  by  which 
their  superstitions  were  brought  to  light,  and 
defended  by  their  own  champions,  and  refuted  by  my 
Zulu,  backed  by  the  heroic  old  missionary,  to  whom 
Charles  often  appealed  to  clinch  the  nails  he  had 
driven  in  sure  places.  They  thus  not  only  swept 
away  the  rubbish,  but  cleared  a  basis  of  admitted 
truth  in  the  minds  of  all  who  wished  to  come  to  the 
light,  on   which   to   build    a    Gospel  structure    of 


452  EMFUND1SWENI. 

saving  doctrines.  The  scoffers  became  very  bitter  in 
their  opposition,  and  daily  tried  to  divert  the  atten- 
tion of  the  people  from  the  preaching,  by  shouts  and 
taunts,  and  by  setting  the  grass  on  fire,  and  raising 
an  alarm,  obliging  the  people  on  two  occasions  to 
disperse  in  haste  to  save  their  huts  from  the  flames. 
One  of  the  worst  opposers,  and  the  man  charged 
with  firing  the  grass  each  day,  was  an  ingrate  by 
the  name  of  Banbana,  whom  Mrs.  Jenkins  had  a  few 
years  before  saved  from  torture  and  death.  He  was 
under  sentence  for  witchcraft,  and  with  a  reim  round 
his  neck  was  kept  in  a  hut  awaiting  his  execution. 
He  asked  to  be  allowed  to  go  outside  of  the  hut  in 
the  dark,  to  which  his  keepers  consented,  but  they 
would  hold  on  by  the  end  of  the  reim  (a  raw  hide 
rope)  so  that  he  should  not  escape.  The  wizard  thus 
getting  out  managed  to  slip  the  reim  from  his  neck, 
and  tied  it  to  a  bush.  The  jailor  inside  feeling  the 
steady  pulling  at  the  rope,  had  no  doubt  that  his 
convict  was  fast  at  the  other  end,  but  at  length 
became  suspicious,  and  going  out  found  a  bush  tied. 
Banbana  fled  to  the  river,  and,  through  some  friend, 
Mrs.  Jenkins  found  him  next  morning  hid  at  the 
water's  edge  among  the  reeds  and  bushes,  and  gave 
him  a  sanctuary  at  the  mission-house,  and  finally 
succeeded  in  restoring  him  to  the  good- will  of  his 
people.  Now  she  was  almost  ready  to  think  that 
she  had  made  a  mistake  in  her  merciful  interference 
with  the  due  course  of  Kaffir  law,  to  save  such  a 
wretch. 


DREARY   TRIP    TO    "  KOK.  S   CAMP.  4-j  J 

But,  in  spite  of  the  devil  and  his  heathen  host,  a 
grand  victory  for  God  was  achieved.  Among  the 
saved  ones  were  some  such  as  "  Dionysius,  Daniaris, 
and  others  with  them." 

The  whole  number  of  the  converts  at  that  time, 
including  those  who  were  saved  before  I  left  for 
Palmerton,  amounted  to  above  1G3  persons,  among 
whom  were  a  doctor  and  five  young  chiefs. 

On  our  return  from  Palmerton,  we  arranged  that 
while  Roberts,  Stuart,  and  myself,  would  go  on  and 
spend  the  Sabbath  with  Captain  Kok's  Griquas,  at 
their  request,  and  on  Monday  proceed  on  our  way 
toward  Natal,  Charles  should  spend  the  Sabbath  with 
Brother  Jenkins,  and  help  on  the  glorious  work 
among  the  Pondos,  and  on  Monday  night  meet  us 
at  "  Ulbrichts." 

That  arrangement  gave  us  over  forty  miles  of 
travel  on  Saturday,  out  of  our  course,  for  Natal ;  and 
about  thirty -five  miles  on  our  course  for  Monday, 
and  gave  Charles  a  journey  on  Monday  of  about  fifty 
miles,  to  meet  us  at  " Ulbrichts,"  where  we  might 
together  enjoy  the  hospitality  of  a  generous  Christian 
Griqua  family.  So  on  Saturday,  September  1st,  we 
bade  adieu  to  Emfundisweni,  and  set  out  for  Kok's 
camp.  That  was  a  day  to  be  remembered,  for  by 
the  time  Te  got  off  the  main  beaten  Natal  track  into 
the  dreary  hills  and  mountains  of  "  Nomansland,"  a 
cold  drizzling  rain  set  in,  with  a  dense  fog,  which 
limited  our  field  of  vision  to  a  radius  of  about  fifty 
yards.     Several  times  through  the  day  we  lost  the 


454  EMFUN'DISWENI. 

trail,  and  much  time  was  consumed  in  finding  tlio 
"  spoor." 

About  four  p.m.,  we  heard  the  barking  of  dogs,  the 
squealing  of  pigs,  the  bleating  of  sheep,  and  the 
lowing  of  cattle,  and  hoped  we  were  nearing  the 
"  Camp."  Coming  to  a  pioneer's  hut  and  stock-yard, 
Mr.  Roberts  fought  his  way  up  through  a  pack  of 
fierce  dogs  to  the  door,  to  inquire  where  we  were. 
He  found  nothing  there  but  dogs  and  a  few  children 
whose  parents  were  out ;  Stuart  and  his  father,  and 
our  weary  horses,  stood  shivering  in  the  storm  till 
Roberts  came  and  told  us  that  the  Dutch-speaking 
children  said  that  it  was  fifteen  miles  to  Kok's  camp, 
and  that  we  had  a  high  mountain  to  cross. 

On  and  on  we  struggled  over  the  mountain,  and 
down  to  a  little  river.  It  was  now  getting  dark,  and 
we  knew  not  which  way  to  go.  We  hoped  we  were 
near  the  Griqua  camp,  but  we  could  see  no  lights, 
and  hear  nothing  but  the  hollow  moaning  of  the 
wind  in  the  mountains,  and  the  pattering  rain  upon 
us.  When  we  got  into  places  of  great  danger, 
Brother  Roberts,  finding  that  I  was  a  good  driver, 
and  not  wishing  to  be  responsible  for  my  life,  found 
it  convenient  to  get  out  and  walk.  So  when  we 
crossed  the  river,  he  gave  me  the  reins,  and  went 
circling  round  to  try  to  find  the  path.  I  drove  up 
a  hollow,  and  away  on  to  high  ground,  hoping  to  see 
Kok's  city  set  on  a  hill,  called  the  "  Bergliftig,"  but 
not  a  beacon  glimmer  shone  out  to  cheer  us.  It  was 
a  moonless  night,  and  with  the  clouds  above  us,  the 


A   NIGHT    LOXG    TO    BE    REMEMBERED.  455 

foff  all  round  us,  that  was  a  darkness  which  we  all 
felt.  I  waked  the  echoes  of  the  mountains  by  shouts 
which  I  hoped  might  arouse  the  natives,  but  got  no 
response. 

I  said,  "  Roberts,  we  have  got  into  Nomansland, 
8urb.  I  have  not  seen  a  tree  for  many  miles  back, 
but  I  saw  a  few  bushes  on  the  cliffs  near  the  river. 
If  we  can  back  there  over  these  dangerous  gullies, 
perhaps  we  can  get  wood  enough  to  make  a  fire, 
otherwise  the  severity  of  the  cold  and  our  wet  clothes 
will  finish  the  business  for  us  !  "  Back  we  went  to 
the  river  and  "  out-spanned."  I  felt  my  way  among 
the  cliffs  to  a  bush  about  four  inches  through,  which 
I  cut  down.  It  was  green  and  wet,  but  by  cutting 
kindling  wood  off  the  seat  of  our  carriage,  we  at 
last  succeeded  in  getting  a  fire.  Thankful  for  a  good 
cup  of  coffee  and  a  supper  savoury  enough  for  princes, 
we  endeavoured  to  devise  some  plan  for  the  preser- 
vation of  life  through  the  night.  We  spent  hours 
trying  to  dry  our  clothes,  but  while  we  were  drying 
one  side  the  other  was  getting  wet  with  the  fast  fall- 
ing rain.  Stuart  and  I  at  last  took  a  seat  in  the  cart, 
which  had  a  "  bonnet,"  which  gave  us  some  protec- 
tion from  the  rain,  and  wrapping  up  as  well  as  we 
could  in  our  wet  rugs,  we  dozed,  and  dreamed,  and 
shivered  till  morning.  Roberts,  meantime,  dug  a 
hole  in  the  ground  to  get  a  dry  place,  and  there, 
half  buried,  wrapped  up  in  his  tiger-skin  rug,  he 
"waited  for  the  morning."  The  Lord  graciously 
preserved  us  even  from  taking  a  cold,  and  in  the 


456  EMFUKDISWENI. 

morning,  while  Stuart,  was  limiting  the  horses,  and 
while  Roberts  was  exploring  the  country  to  find  some- 
body to  tell  us  which  way  to  go,  I  kindled  a  fire  and 
prepared  a  good  breakfast.  Roberts  found  an  English 
citizen,  of  Captain  Kok's  kingdom,  living  not  a  mile 
distant  from  our  camp,  from  whom  we  learned  that 
we  were  quite  out  of  our  way,  and  that  it  was  twelve 
miles  distant  to  Kok's  camp.  He  sent  a  young  Hot- 
tentot to  guide  us.  Mid  rain,  sleet,  and  snow  we 
reached  the  town,  where  I  had  hoped  to  spend  a 
quiet  and  profitable  Sabbath,  about  noon.  Captain 
Kok,  who  passed  us  in  Umhlonhlo's  country  on  his 
way  to  Cape  Town,  had  not  returned.  His  town  has 
a  population  of  about  1,000,  built  up  of  huts,  with 
some  pretty  fair  log  and  brick  houses,  and  a  fort 
with  mud  walls,  about  eight  feet  high,  with  piles  of 
cannon-balls  and  a  fewbigguns,  with  which  to  frighten 
the  Kaffirs.  In  the  midst  of  the  fort  is  a  good 
pioneer  chapel,  which  will  seat  about  400  persons. 
A  plain  house  was  given  us  in  which  to  sojourn. 
We  met  a  young  English  trader,  the  son  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Scott,  of  Natal,  who,  as  a  Christian,  is  trying 
to  do  good  to  the  rising  community.  He  and  another 
young  English  trader  furnished  us  grain  for  our 
horses,  and  other  needful  attentions  ;  a  kind  Griqua 
family  cooked  for  us,  and  we  got  on  well  considering 
the  state  of  the  camp  and  the  weather.  At  three 
P.M.  we  had  the  chapel  crowded,  and  I  preached  the 
Gospel  to  them  through  a  Dutch  interpreter,  a  pious 


hulkey's  hut  chapel.  457 

intelligent  man,  the  school-master  for  the  town,  and 
yet  totally  blind. 

At  night  I  preached  in  English  to  about  thirty 
persons  in  a  private  house.  We  had  reason  to  hope 
that  good  was  done,  and  yet  no  decisive  results  were 
manifest.  On  Monday  the  sun  shone  out,  and  though 
the  roads  were  thought  to  be  so  slippery  that  we 
should  not  be  able  to  cross  the  "Zuurberg" — the  sour 
mountain — we  could  not  afford  to  lose  time,  and 
bo  pushed  on  our  journey.  We  passed  a  number  of 
new,  fertile,  well-watered  farms  of  the  Griquas,  and 
after  crossing  the  Zuurberg  came  through  a  Griqua 
village,  where  they  also  have  a  chapel,  and  regular 
worship  among  themselves.  This  village  is  near  the 
lines  of  "  Alfredia,"  the  newly  annexed  territory  of 
Natal.  Just  across  the  line  a  mean  white  man  has 
opened  a  shop  for  enticing  the  poor  Griquas  to 
destruction  by  the  sale  of  brandy.  Our  route  of 
travel  left  Alfredia  to  our  right,  and  continued  in 
Captain  Kok's  country  some  forty  miles  further  to  the 
"Umzimvubu"  river,  which  is  the  old  west  boundary 
of  Natal. 

We  reached  Ulbrichts  before  night,  took  tea,  and 
drove  on  three  miles  further  to  Mr.  "  Bloms,"  where 
we  spent  the  night.  We  waited  on  Tuesday  for 
Charles  till  eleven  a.m.,  and  went  on  without  him. 
In  the  afternoon  of  that  day  we  reached  Mr.  Hulley's 
place,  and  preached  in  his  large  Kaffir-hut  chapel, 
which  will  seat  150.     Brother  Hulley  supports  him- 


458  EMFUNDISWEXI. 

solf  and  his  large  family  on  a  new  farm  in  KoVs 
territory,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Umzimvubu,  but 
is  nevertheless  a  successful  preacher  among  the 
Kaffirs,  and  has  formed  a  society,  and  preaches  to 
(he  heathen  regularly  in  his  own  round  native 
chapel.  I  was  very  sorry  we  could  not  command 
time  to  stay  with  him  long  enough  for  a  grand 
advance  among  his  people.  We  were  very  kindly 
entertained  for  the  night,  and  next  morning  forded 
the  river,  which  can  be  crossed  only  in  a  ferry-boat, 
except  in  winter;  and  spent  an  hour  with  Mr. 
Hancock  and  family,  who  are  Graham's  Town 
Wesleyans,  and  very  enterprising,  useful  people. 
That  day  we  travelled  over  forty  miles  through  a 
picturesque  country  of  hill,  dale,  and  mountain,  but 
few  settlers,  and  much  wild  game.  We  saw  more 
deer  in  greater  variety  that  day,  than  any  other  day 
of  the  whole  journey,  though  we  saw  many  beautiful 
herds  of  "  rhei  bucks  "  in  Pondo-land.  We  hoped  to 
cross  the  Umkomas  River  before  dark  ;  but,  though 
we  sighted  it  from  the  mountain  an  hour  before 
sunset,  it  was  quite  dark  before  we  reached  the  ford, 
which  we  were  told  was  deep,  rough,  and  dangerous, 
yet  our  only  stopping-place  was  a  public-house  on 
the  other  side.  Near  the  river  we  met  a  native  man, 
whom  we  found  was  from  Indaleni,  a  mission-station 
about  twenty  miles  beyond.  He  had  been  out  among 
the  Kaffirs  with  two  wagons,  selling  Indian  corn, 
and  buying  cattle  in  exchange.  He  was  just  the 
man  of  all  others  we  most  needed,  to  tell  us  about 


AWAZULU. 


*'  YOUE  HORSES    HAVE    FALLEN    INTO   THE   DITCH."    459 

the  ford,  to  supply  us  with  corn,  and  to  help  us  over 
a  high  mountain,  next  day,  tying  our  cart  to  one  of 
his  wagons,  and  driving  our  horses  along  with  his 
stock  cattle.  As  it  was  so  dark  and  dangerous, 
Brother  Roberts  allowed  me  to  drive  across  the  river 
alone.  He  thought  he  could  wade  it,  but  failing  in 
that,  we  sent  a  Kaffir  with  a  horse  to  fetch  him. 
We  all  got  safely  to  the  public-house.  The  pro- 
prietor was  absent,  but  had  left  his  Kaffir  servant  to 
attend  to  the  wants  of  the  travelling  public.  His 
beds  were  passable,  but  he  had  nothing  to  eat,  except 
a  few  small  potatoes  and  some  bacon,  but  as  we  still 
had  a  supply  of  coffee,  sugar,  dried  peaches,  and 
bread,  we  fared  well ;  and  our  "  man  of  providence  " 
brought  us  a  bag  of  corn  for  our  horses. 

As  we  were  getting  ready  to  go  to  bed,  our 
Kaffir  landlord  came  running  in  to  tell  us  "  your 
horses  have  fallen  into  the  ditch."  Stuart  describes 
the  situation  as  follows  : — 

I  knee-haltered  my  pony,  so  that  when  he  was  done  with 
his  corn  he  might  go  and  graze,  hut  three  of  the  cart- 
horses were  tied  together.  Near  hy  was  a  trench,  five  feet 
deep,  enclosing  a  paddock.  The  three  horses,  closely  tied  to 
each  other,  going  too  near  to  the  trench,  one  tumbled  in  and 
rolled  over,  and  drew  the  second  on  to  him.  The  back  of 
the  first  horse  was  wedged  into  the  bottom  of  the  trench, 
with  his  feet  sticking  up ;  the  second  lay  on  his  side  directly 
on  the  first ;  the  third  was  standing  with  his  fore  legs  set 
forward,  to  avoid  being  dragged  in,  and  pulling  back  with 
alibis  might,  was  nearly  strangled  by  the  tightening  of  the 
reim  round  his  neck.     We  soon  released  two  of  them,  but 


400  EMFUNDISWENI. 

the  bottom  one  was  wedged  in  so  tightly,  and  was  so 
exhausted  with  his  struggles,  that  he  seemed  to  have 
resigned  himself  to  die. 

We,  however,  went  to  work  with  pick  and  shovel  and 
dug  down  the  sides  of  the  trench,  till  we  got  room  enough 
to  allow  him  to  get  his  feet  to  the  ground,  then  my  father 
and  the  Kaffir  seized  him  by  the  tail,  while  Mr.  Roberts 
and  I  took  hold  of  the  reim,  whLfl  was  round  his  neck,  and 
we  pulled  away.  For  a  time  the  case  looked  very  doubtful, 
and  I  felt  some  concern  for  the  safety  of  his  "fly-brush,"  but 
a  final  pull  altogether  brought  him  to  his  feet,  and  we  were 
glad  to  find  that  none  of  them  had  received  any  permanent 
injury. 

The  next  day  we  travelled  to  Irdaleni,  and  were 
kindly  entertained  by  the  missionary,  Rev.  W.  H. 
Milward,  and  his  good  lady.  I  arranged  with  hirn 
to  have  Charles  spend  the  Sabbath  with  him,  if  he 
should  come  on  all  right.  We  had  not  heard  from 
him  since  we  left;  him  at  Emfundisweni.  On  the 
next  day,  Friday  the  7th  of  September,  we  journeyed 
on  twenty- five  miles  to  Pietermaritzburg,  the  capital 
of  Natal.  From  the  time  we  left  Queen's  Town,  I 
had  travelled  C13  miles,  while  Roberts  and  Stuart 
had  travelled  700  miles.  Stuart's  Kaffir  "  tripler  " 
carried  him  through  without  "giving  in." 

When  Charles  reported  in  Maritzburg  the  follow- 
ing Monday,  we  found  that  he  was  only  about  half 
a  day  behind  us  all  the  way  from  Ulbrichts  to 
Indaleni.  He  left  Emfundisweni  on  Monday  accord- 
ing to  agreement,  but  the  roads  were  bad  and  the 
journey   was     too   long.      Finding    that   he   could 


THE    WfciJIK    AT   1NDALENI.  461 

not  roach  Ulbrichts  that  day,  he  put  up  at  a  heathen 
kraal,  near  a  chief's  place.  He  got  all  the  people 
together  and  preached  to  them  that  night,  and  again 
the  next  morning,  and  seventeen  of  them  professed 
to  renounce  heathenism,  and  accept  Jesus  Christ. 
He  wrote  back  to  Brother  Jenkins,  giving  him  their 
names  and  whereabouts.  He  also  preached  to  the 
natives  at  Mr.  Hancock's  place,  but  had  not  time  to 
follow  up  the  effort. 

He  preached  Friday  night,  Saturday,  and  Sabbath, 
at  Indaleni.  An  extract  from  a  letter  to  me  from 
Eev.  TV.  H.  Milwood  will  tell  the  story  of  that 
adventure : — 

"  Under  Charles  Panda's  preaching  here,  Friday, 
Saturday,  and  yesterday,  many  have  been  aroused 
to  a  sense  of  their  danger  through  sin,  and  led  to 
seek  forgiveness  and  holiness  through  the  blood  of 
Jesus.  About  seventy,  young  and  old,  profess  to 
have  gained  the  pearl  of  great  price,  and  a  few  others 
are  yet  earnestly  seeking. 

"  This  is  a  matter  of  great  joy  to  me,  and  will  be 
to  you,  I  am  sure." 

From  this  stand-point  we  will  look  back  and  see 
how  the  work  of  God  goes  on  at  Emfundisweni. 
Many  more  were  saved  during  the  last  Sabbath 
Charles  was  there,  and  in  a  letter  from  Brother 
Jenkins,  dated  September  18th,  a  few  weeks  later,  he 
says : — 

I  am  thankful  to  tell  you  that  everything  here  is  going 
on  «*  steadily  as  could  be  expected.     We  have  no  great 


4G2  EMFUISDISWEM. 

excitement;  but  we  perceive  a  deep  seriousness  and  devo- 
tion on  every  countenance,  and  as  yet  no  fulling  off.  tor 
the  present  I  meet  all  the  new  converts,  both  old  and 
young,  myself,  to  ground  them  well  in  Christian  doctrine 
and  experience.  I  look  upon  the  young  with  special  in- 
terest. We  are  endeavouring  to  take  care  of  the  young 
chiefs  who  were  brought  to  God. 

You  will  remember  the  young  chief  Umhlangazi.  He, 
with  a  few  others,  went  last  week  to  see  Chief  Faku,  his 
grandfather,  and  said,  "  We  have  come  to  lay  before  you 
a  matter  of  very  great  importance.  My  mother,  my  two 
sisters,  myself,  and  these,  my  friends,  and  many  others  of 
our  kraals,  have  become  Christians,  and  have  fully  made  up 
our  minds  to  follow  the  word  of  God,  and  cannot,  therefore, 
any  longer  follow  the  customs  of  heathenism,  and  we 
thought  it  our  duty,  to  our  chief  and  father,  to  let  you 
know  the  great  change  whicb  we  have  experienced,  and  our 
purpose  to  cleave  to  Jesus  Christ  who  has  saved  us  from 
our  sins." 

Faku  listened  to  all  that  was  said,  and  remained  silent 
for  some  time.  He  then  expressed  great  surprise  !  After 
another  pause  he  said,  "  My  children,  yoa  have  done  right ! 
Go  and  sit  down  in  peace  !  We  want  to  remove  to  that 
part  and  be  converted  also  as  you  have  been  !  "  For  this 
1  am  humbly  thankful  to  God.  The  young  converts,  of 
course,  have  much  to  bear  from  the  jeers  and  taunts  of  the 
heathen,  but  they  stand  firmly. 

I  hope  the  old  chief  may  be  awakened  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  personal  preparation  for  heaven.  A 
man  one  day  asked  Faku  if  he  had  any  hope  of  get- 
ting to  heaven,  and  the  old  chief  inquired,— 

44  Is  Jenkins  going  to  heaven  ?" 


"OH,    MR.    COOK,    WAIT   FOR   ME  !  "  4C3 

"  Undoubtedly,  lie  is,"  replied  the  other. 

'Til  go  wherever  Jenkins  goes,"  said  the  old 
eathen,  emphatically.  "  When  Jenkins  gets  to 
neaven  he  won't  stay  there  without  me  !  I'm  sure 
he'll  come  out  and  take  me  in  with  him  !" 

I  said  to  Brother  Jenkins,  when  this  story  was  re- 
lated at  his  own  table,  "  I  think  when  the  Master 
calls  you  from  labour  to  reward  you,  you'll  treat  poor 
old  Faku  somewhat  as  Rev.  Valentine  Cook  did  his 
wife.  Cook  was  a  celebrated  pioneer  preacher  in  the 
"Western  States  of  America.  In  1832,  when  a 
shower  of  meteors  came  down  all  over  the  country, 
flying  through  the  heavens  almost  as  thickly  as  snow- 
flakes  in  a  storm,  there  was  great  alarm  throughout 
he  land.  'The  midnight  cry'  was  raised,  and  borue 
along  through  many  a  hamlet  and  city.  'The 
world  is  at  an  end  !  the  stars  are  falling !  the  Judge 
will  soon  appear  !'  Cook  was  suddenly  aroused  out 
of  sleep  by  the  cry  and  general  wailing  in  the 
streets,  and  seeing  through  his  window  the  flashing 
meteors,  he  took  it  for  granted  that  it  was  all  true, 
and  as  he  made  a  dash  for  the  door,  his  wife  cried 
after  him, — 

"  '  Oh,  Mr.  Cook,  wait  for  me  !     Do  wait  for  me  !' 

"  '  No,  my  dear  wife,'  answered  Cook,  as  he  sud- 
denly passed  out  of  sight,  '  if  my  blessed  Jesus  is 
coming,  I  can't  wait  for  anybody  !'  " 

Mr.  Jenkins  made  an  earnest  request  by  letter  to 
have  us  send  Charles  home  through  Pon do-land,  that 
he  might  lead  another  campaign  against  the  heathen, 


464  EMFUNDISWENI. 

and,  in  the  hope  that  he  would  come,  sent  an  order 
on  Mr.  Cameron,  the  chairman,  for  the  funds  to  bear 
his  expenses  back,  and  to  strengthen  his  appeal,  he 
adds,  "  Strange  to  say,  some  of  the  heathen  chiefs 
have  expressed  a  strong  desire  for  Charles  to  visit 
them.     This  I  take  as  from  the  Lord." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

NATAL. 

It  was  my  purpose,  out  of  a  copious  supply  of  mate- 
rials, to  fill  four  chapters  with  facts  and  incidents 
illustrative  of  this  very  interesting  young  colony, 
and  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  among  its  aboriginal 
and  colonial  populations,  but  my  printer  informs  me 
that  I  have  already  greatly  exceeded  the  limits  of 
my  book,  so  I  must  confine  myself  to  a  brief  exhibit 
of  leading  facts  and  life  scenes. 

The  colony  of  Natal  lies  principally  between  the 
parallels  of  29°  and  30°  south,  and  longitude  29°  to 
31°  west. 

The  climate  is  genial  and  healthy,  the  mean 
temperature  for  eight  years  past  was  64°  Fahren- 
heit, the  highest,  97°,  the  lowest,  33°.  The  jungle 
and  forest  scenery,  especially  seaward,  have  quite 
a  tropical  appearance.  The  soil  and  climate  are 
pretty  well  adapted  to  cereal  grains  and  grass,  but 
specially  to  the  production  of  arrowroot,  sugar-cane, 
and  coffee,  it  is  said  also  that  cotton  does  well. 
There  are  many  fine  coffee  plantations,  and  of  the 

HH 


4GG 


NATAL. 


108  mills  in  the  Colony,  worked  principally  by  steam 
power,  nearly  100  of  them  are  sugar-mills.  There 
are  4,667  farmers  of  different  kinds  in  the  Colony, 
194  manufactories,  and  57  commercial  establish- 
ments. 

The  population,  according  to  the  census  of  1865, 
was  as  follows  : — 


White  males    .     . 
White  females      . 

.    .     79,990 
.    78,590 

Total 

Native  males   .     . 
Native  females 

.    .  158,580 

,    .    67,667 
.    .    70,069 

Total 


.  137,736 


Indian  coolies,  7000 ;  more  than  four-fifths  of 
whom  are  males,  who  are  employed  principally  in 
the  sugar  plantations.  The  aggregate  of  those 
several  classes  swells  the  total  population  to  over 
300,000  souls.  There  are  about  7000  native  Zulu 
Kaffirs  employed  in  service  by  the  Colonists.  They 
are  much  more  robust,  and  said  to  be  much  more 
trustworthy  than  the  Coolies,  but  being  more  free 
and  independent  than  the  poor  Indians,  they  walk 
away  if  not  suited,  and  hence  are  not  so  available. 

The  total  revenue  of  the  Government  for  1865  was 
£176,295  Is.  9d. 

Total  expenditure,  £179,883  7s.,  besides  a  public 


TOUNG  GENTLEMEN  OP  THE  AMAZULU. 


BLUE-BOOK  STATISTICS.  467 

debt  for  unfinished  harbour  improvements  at  D'Ur- 
ban,  amounting  to  £110,000. 

The  Government  appropriation  for  ecclesiastical 
purposes  during  the  year  186-5,  principally  for  the 
support  of  Anglican  and  Dutch  Reformed  Ministers, 
was  £1,150.  For  police  and  jails,  £3,212,  for  the 
Judicial  Department,  £12,505. 

Besides  the  various  religious  establishments  com- 
mon in  English  colonies,  there  are  in  Natal  thirteen 
mission-stations  among  the  Zulus,  under  the  American 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  The  Government  has 
made  to  each  a  liberal  grant  of  land,  and  fully 
appreciating  the  faithful  labours  of  the  American 
missionaries,  and  the  influence  of  their  practical 
American  ideas  on  education,  and  all  manner  of 
hand'crift  for  the  natives,  grants  a  subsidy  for  their 
schools,  and  £24  a-year  towards  the  support  of  a 
periodical  they  publish  for  the  Zulus,  called  the 
Ik/eezi,  so  the  Kaffirs  have  one  newspaper,  while  the 
whites  have  four. 

The  Government  appropriation  in  1865,  for  all  the 
industrial  schools,  three  of  the  largest  of  which  are 
under  the  Wesleyans,  was  £1000  ;  For  common 
schools,  £909.  In  these  several  schools  1744  Kaffirs 
/eceived  instruction  during  the  year.  In  the  Indus- 
trial Schools  120  boys  were  at  work,  learning  a 
variety  of  useful  trades,  and  372  Kaffir  women  were 
taught  to  sew.  I  am  indebted  to  the  Colonial  "  Blue 
Book  "  for  my  statistics. 

Pietermaritzburg,  the  capital,  with  a  population  of 


468  NATAL. 

about  8000,  is  well  located  for  drainage,  health,  and 
beauty,  on  a  high  ridge  rising  up  from  the  banks  of 
a  small  river,  a  branch  of  the  great  "  Umgani."  In 
every  direction  grassy  hills  stand  out  to  view,  with 
hiffh  mountains  to  the  north  and  west. 

The  whole  breadth  of  country,  about  200  miles 
in  width,  from  the  "  Drakensberg "  range  to  the 
ocean,  embracing  the  eastern  province  of  Cape 
Colony,  KafFraxia,  and  Natal,  a  distance  of  more  than 
1000  miles,  is  all  of  the  same  general  appearance, 
just  like  the  waves  of  the  ocean,  a  vast  sea  of  irregu- 
lar grassy  hills  and  mountains,  with  island  groves  of 
timber,  the  KafFrarian  waves  being  much  more 
abrupt  and  high  than  those  within  British  lines. 

Up  the  river,  seven  miles  from  the  capital,  is  the 
native  village  and  Wesleyan  mission-station  called 
Edendale.  It  was  founded  by  Rev.  Mr.  Allison,  then 
a  Wesleyan  missionary,  now  a  devoted  and  useful 
minister  to  the  natives  in  Pietermaritzburg,  not 
directly  with  us,  but  in  good  repute  with  all  classes, 
and  in  good  fellowship  with  his  "Wesleyan  brethren. 
In  founding  Edendale,  he  bought  a  large  tract  of 
land,  of  superior  quality,  for  the  natives,  and  secured 
to  them  freehold  titles.  Their  beautiful  dale — near 
the  river,  with  a  grand  waterfall  in  sight  above,  a 
good  mill  for  grinding  the  millions  of  bushels  of 
maize  they  grow  on  their  little  farms,  their  neat 
village  of  1000  population,  with  nearly  all  the  space 
along  the  sides  of  the  streets  and  front  and  rear  of  their 
little  houses,  covered  with  fruit-trees,  principally  the 


CO-OPERATION  OP  VARIOUS  ORDERS  OF  MINISTERS.    469 

peach  ;  and  two  new  chapels  of  brick  and  stone,  in 
fine  style,  to  seat  about  500  each,  all  built  by  native 
mechanics — is  not  without  reason  called"  Edendale." 
They  have  a  fine  young  missionary,  Hev.  C.  Itoberts. 

Distant  from  the  capital  fifty-three  miles,  is  Port 
Natal,  and  the  commercial  town  of  D'Urban,  with  a 
population  of  nearly  10,000.  It  is  located  near  the 
bay,  on  a  vast  plain  of  sand,  which  once  belonged  to 
the  domain  of  the  ocean,  but  the  high  "  Berean  hills," 
to  which  the  town  extends,  covered  with  forests  and 
tropical  jungle,  furnish  fine  background  to  the 
scene,  and  splendid  sites  for  suburban  residences. 

Easterly  from  D'Urban,  across  the  Umgani,  twenty 
miles  distant,  in  a  country  abounding  with  coffee 
plantations,  is  the  rural  village  of  Verulam.  The 
daily  labours  of  our  brief  sojourn  of  five  weeks, 
were  devoted  principally  to  Indaleni,  Pietermaritz- 
bui'g,  Edendale,  D'Urban,  and  Verulam. 

The  services  were  held  in  the  Wesley  an  chapels, 
which  are  neat,  substantial,  and  spacious,  but  we 
had  the  hearty  co-operation  of  nearly  all  classes 
of  Christian  ministers  and  people.  The  effects  of 
the  searing  blight  of  semi-infidelity,  so  famous  in 
Natal,  were  so  felt  by  the  infant  churches  of  the 
Colony,  that  all  lovers  of  the  Bible  and  its  Author 
were  ready  to  join  hands  with  any  agency  whom  God 
might  send  to  help  them  in  their  need.  In  Maritz- 
burg,  besides  Brothers  Mason,  Hays,  and  Cameron, 
Wesleyan  ministers,  we  had  Rev.  Mr.  Allison,  before 
mentioned,  Revds.  W.  Campbell  and  Smith,  Scotch 


470  NATAL. 

Presbyterians,  Rev.  P.  Huet,  Dutch  Reformed,  and 
two  zealous  French  missionaries,  unjustly  exiled  by 
the  Dutch  Boers  from  the  Free  State,  where  they 
with  their  fellow-missionaries,  thirteen  in  number, 
had  laboured  successfully  for  many  years  among  the 
"Basutus."  In  D'TJrban,  besides  the  Wesleyan, 
Rev.  J.  Cameron,  the  veteran  chairman  of  the  dis- 
trict, his  colleague,  C.  Barman,  J.  Langley,  mis- 
sionaries to  the  natives,  Rev.  Ralph  Stott,  a  wise 
and  indefatigable  old  Indian  missionary,  labouring 
among  the  Natal  coolies,  wo  had  Rev.  Mr.  Buchanan, 
and  Rev.  Mr.  Patton,  his  colleague,  Presbyterian, 
Rev.  Mr.  Mann,  Independent,  and  a  number  of  the 
American  missionaries,  among  whom  we  had  special 
helpers  in  the  persons  of  Revs.  D.  Rood,  M.  A.,  H.  B. 
Wilder,  M.A.,  W.  Mellon,  and  that  grand  old  pio- 
neer missionary,  D.  Lindley,  D.D.  Rev.  Mr.  Mann 
brought  his  people  in  force,  and  nearly  half  the  new 
converts  belonged  to  his  congregation,  whom  he 
organized  into  classes,  after  the  model  of  Methodism, 
and,  with  such  a  body  of  new  recruits,  is  going  on 
with  increasing  success. 

As  I  was  straitened  for  time,  and  as  the  Natalians 
seemed  to  have  but  little  appreciation  of  native  stuff 
for  the  ministry,  nay,  strong  prejudice  against  even 
the  hope  of  raising  up  native  ministers,  and  as  my 
Zulu  had  become  a  workman  that  needed  not  to  be 
ashamed,  I  thought  it  best  to  appoint  him  the 
general  of  the  black  legion,  while  I  should  bring  up 
the  smaller  wing  of  the  whites,  and  thus  storm  the 


BISHOP    COLENSO's    PREACHING.  471 

citadel  of  infidelity  and  sin  from  two  sides  at  the 
same  time.  So  I  commended  my  sable  brother  to 
the  missionaries,  and  bespoke  for  him  "  an  open  field 
and  a  fair  fight." 

Bishop  Colenso  had  just  been  booming  away  at 
an  impregnable  fortress  of  truth,  the  supreme  Divi- 
nity of  Jesus  Christ,  and  issued  his  orders  forbidding 
any  to  ask  directty  any  favours  from  Christ,  and 
ignored  the  very  songs  of  Zion  which  contained 
prayers  to  the  Son  of  God.  The  Colonial  papers 
had  given  the  Bishop  all  the  "aid  and  comfort" 
they  could,  for  his  sensationalism  is  very  edifying 
to  the  press,  financially ;  but  at  the  time  of  our  arri- 
val that  novelty  had  lost  its  power  of  charming, 
and  some  new  strategic  dash  was  needed  to  revive 
the  flagging  spirits  of  the  Bishop's  troops  ;  so  on  the 
first  Sabbath  night  we  spent  in  Maritzburg,  the 
Bishop  preached  on  "  The  Idolatry  of  the  Bible," 
by  which  it  appeared  from  his  discourse,  as  reported 
to  us  by  some  who  heard  it,  he  meant  an  idolatrous 
reverence  for  the  Bible.  One  of  his  illustrations 
was  in  substance  as  follows:— A  young  man,  a 
printer  employed  in  setting  the  type  of  one  of  his 
(Colenso's)  first  books  on  the  Pentateuch,  became  so 
affected  by  the  doubts  thus  excited  in  bis  mind 
about  the  truth  of  the  Bible,  that  he  went  mad 
and  committed  suicide.  The  bereaved  father  of 
the  poor  printer  wrote  to  Colenso,  giving  the  facts 
about  the  dreadful  end  of  his  son,  and  charged 
the  Bishop  with  his  death,  to  which  the  Bishop  re« 


472  NATAL. 

plied  that  the  father  himself  was  the  cause  of  the 
tragedy,  by  teaching  his  son  such  an  idolatrous  love 
for  the  Bible  that  he  could  not  bear  to  see  the 
truth  of  its  stories  called  in  question,  and  hence  his 
madness  and  self-destruction. 

The  two  Sabbaths  we  were  in  the  capital,  Dr. 
Colenso  and  his  "  thorn  in  the  flesh/'  Dean  Green, 
were  booming  away,  just  across  the  street  in  a  dia- 
gonal line  from  our  chapel. 

While  in  Maritzburg,  I  delivered  a  lecture  on 
"  Reminiscences  of  Palestine,"  and  as  I  had  occasion 
to  join  issue  with  one  of  Colenso's  arguments,  in 
which  he  tries  to  prove  the  physical  impossibility 
of  executing  the  command  of  Moses,  as  recorded  in 
the  twenty-seventh  and  twenty-eighth  chapters  of 
Deuteronomy,  to  proclaim  the  curses  and  blessings  of 
the  law  from  the  two  opposite  mountains,  Gerizim 
and  Ebal,  to  the  assembled  hosts  of  Israel  between, 
having  myself  personally,  by  measurement  and  vocal 
power,  demonstrated  the  entire  feasibility  of  the 
whole  thing  in  the  very  place  where  Joshua,  in  the 
eighth  chapter  of  his  book,  informs  us  that  all  that 
Moses  commanded  was  done,  I  requested  my  com- 
mittee to  present  the  Bishop  with  my  compliments, 
and  send  him  a  ticket  to  the  lecture ;  but  he  did  not 
put  in  an  appearance.  I  afterwards  learned  that  the 
Bishop  had  left  for  D'Urban  about  the  time  the  lec- 
ture was  to  come  off,  on  a  tour  of  episcopal  visitation 
in  that  part  of  his  diocese. 

So  when  I  went  to  D'Urban  the  Bishop  was  at  hia 


COLENSO'S  ADHERENTS.  473 

post  there.  As  I  entered  the  town  I  saw  the  bills 
up,  announcing  that  the  learned  Bishop  was  to  preach 
next  day  morning  and  evening  in  the  Anglican 
Church. 

At  Yerulara  he  preceded  us  a  week.  Rev.  Mr. 
Elder  there  tried  to  blockade  his  pulpit  against  the 
Bishop,  and  hence  one  of  those  scenes  so  common 
in  his  diocese,  a  violent  removal  of  barriers,  and 
"  running  the  blockade." 

The  Sabbath  I  was  in  Verulam,  Colenso  was  back 
in  D 'Urban.  The  papers  puffed  him,  and  eulogised 
his  preaching,  and  a  merchant  of  Maritzburg  came 
to  tea  at  the  house  of  my  host,  Mr.  J.  H.  Grant,  in 
D'Urban,  so  drunk,  he  could  not  walk  erect,  and 
spent  an  hour  in  berating  Christians  and  Christian 
ministers,  and  was  sure  that  the  eloquent  Bishop,  the 
most  learned  and  reliable  preacher  in  the  world, 
would  yet  convert  the  whole  of  us.  I  happened  to 
say,  "  Dr.  Colenso,"  and  he  took  offence,  that  I 
should  be  so  irreverent.  "  Bishop  Colenso  !  Bishop 
Colenso  !"  he  shouted,  "the  most  learned  and  pious 
man  in  the  world  !" 

There  are  some  very  respectable  families,  in  a 
worldly  sense,  and  of  good  outward  moral  deport- 
ment, who  are  identified  with  the  Bishop ;  but  the 
majority  of  his  followers  are  affirmed  to  be,  by  those 
who  know  them  well,  such  persons  as  have  good 
reason  to  dread  the  threatened  judgments  of  the 
Bible,  and  therefore  hope  the  book  is  not  from  God. 
Colenso,  too,  gains  influence  with  many  by  his  genial 


471  NATAL. 

gentlemanly  manners,  and  Low  Church  liberality,  in 
contrast  with  the  stiff,  Puscyitical,  Ritualistic  cha- 
racter of  the  Bishop  of  Cape  Town.  Old  Rev.  Mr. 
Lloyd,  Episcopal  minister  in  D'Urban,  in  a  friendly 
visit  to  my  room,  after  talking  to  me  sometime 
about  the  Bishops  of  Jerusalem,  and  Sydney,  whom 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting,  spoke  of  Colenso,  who 
had  been  in  his  pulpit  the  preceding  Sabbath,  and 
said,  "  Poor  Colenso,  I  believe  he  is  a  well-meaning 
man,  but  has  got  wrong  in  his  mind.  I  believe  he 
will  be  in  a  lunatic  asylum  before  many  years." 
Mr.  Lloyd  is  a  most  kind-hearted  old  man,  and 
would  be  glad  to  draw  that  veil  of  charity  over  the 
learned  prelate's  theological  and  moral  idiosyncrasies. 
One  of  the  D'Urban  papers  stated,  as  a  proof  that  all 
the  people  had  not  lost  confidence  in  the  Bishop,  that 
in  his  recent  episcopal  tour,  he  had  "  baptized  two 
children/' 

During  those  eventful  five  weeks,  in  which  the 
Bishop  made  his  episcopal  tour,  and  caused  such  a 
lively  stir  among  the  newspaper  reporters,  corre- 
spondents, and  sensationalists  of  the  church  breaking 
order,  and  doing  wonders  in  his  way,  and  baptized 
two  babies,  my  Zulu  and  his  black  legion,  and  I,  with 
my  pale  faces,  had  marched  steadily  on  against  the 
armies  of  the  aliens.  The  souls  awakened  by  the 
Spirit,  who  surrendered  to  God,  accepted  Christ,  and 
personally  tested  the  truth  of  the  Bible,  and  who  got 
the  demonstration  of  the  supreme  Divinity  of  Jesus, 
by  the  "  washing  of  regeneration,  and  renewing  of  the 


OVEIt   ONE   THOUSAND   WIT^SSES.  475 

Holy  Ghost,"  publicly  confessed  that  they  had  re- 
ceived "  redemption  through  His  blood,  even  the 
forgiveness  of  their  sins/''  They  were  also  personally 
examined  by  their  ministers,  who  being  satisfied 
with  their  testimony,  wrote  down  their  names  and 
addresses,  so  as  to  get  them  under  pastoral  training. 
These  new  witnesses,  whom  God  thus  raised  up  in 
refutation  of  the  scepticism  and  infidelity  of  the 
times,  numbered  over  320  whites,  and  over  700 
natives,  of  all  ages  and  stations  in  life,  making  an 
aggregate  of  more  than  1,000  persons.  I  only 
preached  five  sermons  to  Kaffirs  during  those  five 
weeks,  so  that  most  of  the  success  of  that  division  of 
the  army  was  under  the  leadership  of  my  Zulu.  I 
was  glad  of  that,  for  it  did  more  than  volumes  of 
argument  could  have  done,  to  break  down  a  foolish 
"caste"  and  "colour"  prejudice,  and  thus  open  the 
way  for  the  employment  of  native  agency,  which  God 
will  mainly  employ  for  the  evangelization  of  Africa. 

"When  Brother  Pamla  first  went  to  D'Urban, 
Mr.  Henry  Cowey,  a  merchant,  an  excellent  worker, 
and  Local  Preacher,  said  to  me,  "  There  is  a  great 
deal  of  prejudice  here  against  allowing  a  coloured 
man  to  come  into  the  house  of  a  colonist,  but  I  have 
consented  to  take  Charles  to  stop  with  me." 

"  You  may  think  yourself  very  highly  honoured, 
Brother  Cowey,  to  have  the  privilege  of  entertaining 
euch  a  messenger  of  God." 

Brother  Cowey  afterwards  reminded  me  of  my  re- 
mark, and  said  it  was  true,  for  he  and  his  family  had 


476  NATAL. 

been  entertained  and  benefited  by  Charles'  sojourn 
with  them. 

PROMISCUOUS    EXAMPLES   OF   NATAL    ADVENTURES. 

Dr.  Colcnso's  attempt  to  popularise  the  Gospel  to 
the  Kaffirs,  by  his  apology  for  polygamy,  did  not 
take  with  the  Kaffir  polygamies  at  all,  for  they  were 
sharp  enough  to  see  that  if  Christianity  differed  so 
little  from  Kaffir  heathenism  as  that,  it  was  quite 
unnecessary  to  be  at  the  trouble  of  a  conversion  from 
one  to  the  other. 

TRYING    TO    ASTONISH   THE    NATIVES. 

When  the  first  Anglican  Church  dean  went  to 
Natal,  he  visited  the  Wesleyan  Mission  at  Pieter- 
maritzburg,  and  Rev.  W.  J.  Davis,  the  missionary, 
invited  him  to  preach  to  his  Kaffirs.  The  Dean 
accepted  the  invitation,  and  came  before  the  audi- 
ence in  his  white  "  surplice,"  a  style  of  dress  the 
natives  had  never  seen  before.  After  the  service  Mr. 
Davis  asked  some  of  the  men  what  they  thought  of 
the  new  amfundisi's  preaching  ?  "  Well/'  replied 
one,  "it  was  very  good,  just  the  same  things  we  had 
heard  before ;  but  we  were  wondering  all  the  time 
why  the  man  did  not  put  his  shirt  inside  of  his 
trousers?" 

CHARMING    A   LION    WITH    MUSIC. 

When  Rev.  W.  J.  Davis  was  living  in  Pieter- 
maritzburg,  his  little  son  John,  a  lad  of  four  years, 
went  too  near  to  a  chained  lion  in  a  neighbour's  yard. 


JOHNNY    DAVIS   AND   THE    LION. 


CHARMING   A    LION   WITH    MUSIC.  477 

It  was  called  a  pet  lion,  but  was  indeed  so  wild  and 
vicious,  that  no  living  thing  was  safe  within  the 
radius  of  his  beat.  The  unsuspecting  child  stumbled 
within  his  reach,  and  the  lion  instantly  felled  him 
to  the  ground,  and  set  his  great  paw  on  poor  little 
Johnny's  head.  There  was  great  consternation, 
among  the  bystanders,  but  none  were  able  to  deliver 
the  child.  Miss  Morcland,  a  young  lady,  with  cha- 
racteristic colonial  presence  of  mind,  seeing  the  peril 
of  the  child,  ran  up-stairs,  and  with  her  accordion  in 
hand,  came  to  a  window  looking  out  upon  the  tragic 
scene,  and  with  a  shout,  to  arrest  attention,  played  a 
tune  for  the  entertainment  of  the  so-called  "  king  of 
the  woods,"  and  he  was  so  delighted  with  her  kind 
attentions  and  musical  talents,  that  he  released  his 
prey,  and  went  the  length  of  his  chain  toward  his 
fair  charmer,  and  stood  in  rapt  attention.  Johnny 
meantime  got  up,  and  carried  his  precious  little  self 
off  to  his  mother.  He  never  thought  of  crying  till  he 
entered  the  L  ouse,  and  saw  how  they  were  all  excited 
about  him,  and  then  quite  out  of  danger,  he  had  a 
good  cry  on  hit'  own  account.  John  has  grown  up 
the  stature  of  a  tall  man,  and  has  been  delivered 
from  him  "  who  goeth  about  as  a  roaring  lion,  seek- 
ing whom  he  may  devour." 

COLENSO's  ARK  TAKEN  DOWN  BY  A  KAFFIR. 

On  our  way  to  Pietermaritzburg,  having  crossed 
into  the  lines  of  Natal,  Mr.  H.,  a  very  intelligent 
and  influential  man,  gave  Charles  Pamla  a  solemn 


478  NATAL. 

warning  against  coming  into  contact  with  Bishop 
Colenso,  which  led  in  substance  to  tho  following 
conversation : — ■ 

"  lie  is  a  learned,  shrewd,  dangerous  man,"  said 
Mr.  IT.,  "  and  might  shake  your  faith." 

' '  Shake  my  faith  in  what  ?  "  inquired  Charles. 

"  He  might  shake  your  faith  in  the  truth  of  the 
Bible,  and  in  the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. " 

"  I  can't  see  how  he  could  that,"  replied 
Charles.  "  I  proved  the  truth  of  the  Bible  and  the 
Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  in  my  heart  thirteen  years 
ago.  I  was  convinced  of  sin  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
according  to  the  teachings  of  the  Bible;  I  then 
walked  after  the  Spirit  according  to  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  Word  of  God,  and  lie  led  me  to 
Jesus  Christ.  I  gave  my  guilty  soul  to  Him  and 
received  Him  as  my  Saviour,  and  got  the  forgiveness 
of  all  my  sins  through  Him.  None  but  God  can 
forgive  sins.  It  was  on  the  truth  of  God's  Word 
that  I  accepted  Him  as  my  Saviour,  and  then,  accord- 
ing to  the  true  promises  of  God,  He  saved  me  from 
my  sins,  a  thing  I  know  He  never  could  do  if  lie  is 
not  God.  He  not  only  saved  me  thirteen  years  ago, 
but  He  has  saved  me  every  day  since,  and  saves  me 
now.  These  are  the  facts  that  I  know,  and  I  can't 
see  how  any  man's  infidel  speculations  can  shake 
God's  facts  revealed  in  my  heart,  which  prove  to 
me  the  truth  of  His  book." 

"  Ah  !  but  the  faith  of  many  strong  men  has  been 
shaken  by  Colenso,"  rejoined  Mr.  H.,    "and  you 


CHARLES   rAMLA*S   HEPLy    I'O   COLENSO.  479 

should  be  careful  not  to  put  yourself  in  his  way,  lie 
might  do  you  serious  injury." 

"Well,  now,  Mr.  II.,"  said  Charles,  "will  you 
please  to  give  me  the  strongest  argument  Colenso 
ever  raised  against  the  truth  of  the  Bible  ?  " 

"~No,  I  should  be  afraid,  it  might  do  you  damage." 
But  Charles  insisted  on  knowing  the  strongest  thing 
Mr.  II.  could  recall  from  Colenso' s  writings  against 
God's  book,  and  finally  Mr.  H.  said,  "  Dr.  Colenso 
shows,  b}7  an  arithmetical  calculation,  that  the  Bible 
story  about  the  ark  breaks  down ;  that  it  was  im- 
possible, according  to  the  measurements  given  for 
the  ark,  to  contain  a  pair  of  all  the  animals  and 
seven  of  the  clean  animals,  as  stated  in  the  story." 

"Indeed,"  said  Charles,  "and  that's  it!  Is  that 
the  strongest  point  the  great  man  can  make  against 
the  Word  of  God?" 

"  He  makes  a  strong  case  out  of  that,  and  I  can't 
remember  a  stronger  in  his  writings,"  replied  Mr. 
H.,  and  Charles  showed  his  splendid  rows  of  ivory 
in  a  broad  spontaneous  laugh,  peculiar  to  himself, 
and  then  said,  "  Well,  now,  seriously,  Mr.  H.,  what- 
ever may  be  our  ignorance  of  ancient  measurements, 
the  fact  is,  if  God  should  command  me  of  build  an 
ark,  give  me  the  pattern  and  dimensions,  furnish 
plenty  of  timber  of  the  right  sort  for  such  a  ship, 
and  plenty  of  ship-builders,  and  120  years  to 
fulfil  my  contract,  I'll  warrant  you  I  would  make  it 
big  enough,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  old  Noah  was 
as  sharp  as  any  Kaffir  in  Africa." 


ISO  NATAL. 

The  fact  is,  taking  the  "  cubit "  at  twenty-one 
inches,  the  measurements  given  in  the  narrative  are 
adequate ;  but  my  Zulu  took  the  Bishop  on  his  own 
ground.  The  Jews  had  a  measure  called  a  "  cubit," 
the  Chaldeans  had  a  very  different  measure  called 
a  "  cubit,"  just  as  we  have  different  measurements 
bearing  the  same  name  now ;  for  example,  a  mile 
in  Ireland  is  about  one- third  longer  than  a  mile 
in  England,  and  an  acre  in  England,  Ireland,  and 
Scotland  represents  in  each  country  quite  a  different 
measurement  of  land,  so  Charles  at  a  glance  grasped 
the  fundamental  points  in  the  story,  and  furnishing 
the  clearest  presumption  of  its  truthfulness. 

THOMAS    PALFREYMAN   AND   THE   TIGER. 

The  South  African  Tiger  is  of  the  bright-spotted 
leopard  species,  not  quite  so  large  as  the  Asiatic  tiger, 
I  believe,  but  very  fierce  and  formidable.  When  we 
were  at  Maritzburg  a  young  man,  near  York,  twenty 
miles  distant  from  us,  discovered  a  tiger  near  his 
residence,  and  rfiot  at  the  beast  two  or  three  times, 
but  without  much  effect,  except  to  enrage  the  animal, 
which  joined  issue  with  him,  teeth  and  claws  against 
his  powder  and  bullets,  and  the  young  fellow  cried 
for  quarter.  His  shouts  brought  his  father  to  the 
6pot.  The  young  man  escaped  with  his  life,  but  his 
father  was  killed  by  the  tiger  almost  instantaneously. 

Thomas  Palfreyman,  a  young  Englishman,  was 
away  back  of  Pietermaritzburg,  toward  the  great 
Drakensberg,  when  some  frightened  Kaffirs   came 


TOM   PALFREYMAN   AND   THE   TIGER.  481 

running  to  him,  crying,  "  a  tiger  !  a  tiger  !  "  point- 
ing to  the  woods  and  cliffs  near  by.  Palfrey  man 
ran  with  his  gun  into  the  "  bush  "  and  came  in  sight 
of  the  beast  very  soon. 

The  tiger  stood  his  ground,  the  young  man 
advanced  close  to  him,  took  deliberate  aim  at  his 
head,  and  fired,  but  produced  no  effect  beyond  the 
flash  and  report  of  the  gun,  and  the  slow  retreat  of 
the  tiger.  The  young  fellow  then,  upon  reflec- 
tion, was  convinced  that  in  his  haste  he  had  for- 
gotten to  put  in  a  ball,  and  had,  therefore,  merely 
burnt  a  charge  of  powder  in  his  first  attempt 
to  kill  a  tiger.  He  had  only  been  a  little  over  a 
year  away  from  England  and  was  not  well  up  in 
that  kind  of  Colonial  work.  He  then  put  in  a  good 
charge  of  powder  and  ball  and  pursued.  The  Kaffirs 
kept  out  of  the  bush  in  the  open  ground  where  they 
would  have  plenty  of  lee-way  all  clear,  so  that  if 
they  should  deem  it  expedient  to  do  any  running, 
they  might  do  it  to  the  best  advantage  for  themselves, 
for  the  Kaffirs,  brought  up  from  childhood  in  terror 
of  the  tiger,  their  great  "  Inkosi "  of  the  forest, 
have  a  mortal  fear  of  them.  Palfreyman  was  feeling 
his  way  along  a  narrow  path  on  the  side  of  a 
clift,  eight  or  ten  feet  above  its  base,  looking  ahead 
for  another  sight  of  the  tiger.  The  great  beast  mean- 
time, with  sharper  sight,  was  looking  for  him,  and 
was  now  crouched  on  a  ledge  of  the  cliff  just  above 
him,  ready  to  pounce  down  on  his  hunter  as  he  was 
passing  below.     The  young  hunter  was  quite  out- 

II 


482  NATAI-. 

generallcd  by  the  strategic  movements  of  the  enemy, 
and  when  he  came  within  range,  the  tiger  with  one 
long  leap  came  down  upon  him. 

Hearing  the  spring  of  the  tiger,  he  suddenly  drew 
up  his  gun  in  the  direction  of  the  bounding  beast 
and  fired,  but  without  effect,  except,  perhaps,  to  give 
him  a  wholesome  admonition  with  the  smell  of  burnt 
powder. 

As  the  tiffer  struck  him  he  set  the  nails  of  one  of 
his  paws  deeply  into  one  of  Tom's  shoulders  and  his 
teeth  into  the  back  of  his  head,  and  knocked  him 
heels  over  head  down  the  cliff,  eight  or  ten  feet 
into  the  jungle  below.  In  their  sudden  tumble 
over  the  ledge  of  rocks  the  tiger  lost  his  hold,  and 
retreated  into  a  jungle  a  little  further  on.  Tom 
gathered  himself  up,  and  finding  he  had  the  use  of 
his  limbs,  though  badly  wounded  and  bleeding  pro- 
fusely, he  put  into  his  gun  a  heavy  charge  of 
powder,  and  rolled  in  a  handful  of  naked  bullets, 
and  was  ready  to  renew  the  attack.  His  English  pluck 
was  up  by  this  time,  and  he  rushed  into  the  bushy 
retreat  of  his  foe,  and  there  he  was  waiting  for 
him,  calculating,  no  doubt,  and  on  very  plausible 
grounds  too,  that  the  victory  and  the  spoils  w7ould 
be  his.  The  young  Englishman  advanced  upon 
him  till  he  could  see  the  flashing  glare  of  his  eyes, 
and  with  good  aim  drove  his  full  charge  of  bullets 
into  his  head,  and  dropped  him  dead  in  his  tracks. 
Tom  showed  me  the  skin  of  the  tiger,  which  measured 
nine  feet  from  the  nose  to  the  end  of  the  tail.    Ho 


TOM    PALFREYMAN    AND    THE    TIGER. 


THE   DUTCHMAN    AND    HIS    HOLLAND    BIBLE.     483 

was  preserving  the  skin,  waiting  an  opportunity  to 
send  it  to  his  parents  in  England. 

Thomas  drove  me  from  his  uncle  Thomas  Pal- 
frey man's,  house,  eighteen  miles,  to  my  appointment 
at  Richmond,  where  I  preached  two  sermons  and 
got  my  tiger-killer  converted  to  God. 


THE    DUTCHMAN    AND    HIS    HOLLAND    BIBLE. 

Two  Kaffrarian  missionaries,  Rev.  vV.  J.  Davis, 
and  Rev.  John  Ayliff,  in  one  of  their  journeys,  put 
up  at  the  house  of  a  Dutch  farmer. 

During  their  evening  conversation,  Mr.  Ayliff  in- 
troduced the  subject  of  vital,  personal  godliness,  and 
was  urging  upon  his  host  the  necessity  of  being 
"  born  again/'  as  a  mere  form  of  religion  would  not 
secure  him  a  passport  to  heaven,  nor  a  fitness  for  it. 
The  Dutchman  listened  so  attentively  for  some  time, 
that  the  missionary  was  quite  encouraged  with  the 
hope  of  winning  his  man  to  Christ ;  but  at  last  the 
Dutchman  interrupted  him,  by  saying,  "  Mr.  Ayliff, 
what  did  Cain  kill  his  brother  with  ?" 

Mr.  Ayliff  replied,  "  The  Bible  does  not  inform 
us  what  kind  of  instrument  he  used,  and  hence,  we 
do  not  know." 

The  Dutchman  went  and  got  his  large  Holland 
Dutch  Bible,  and  laid  it  down  on  the  table,  and  with 
his  hand  upon  it,  said,  "  See  here,  Mr.  Ayliff,  this  is 
my  religion.  This  is  a  duly  authorized  Holland 
Bible,  that  cost  me  one  hundred  dollars  (Rix  dollars — 


484  NATAL. 

£7  10s.).         A  Holland  Bible,  Mr.  Ayliff,  in  black 
letters,  duly  authorised  !     That  is  my  faith." 

He  then  opened  it,  and  turned  over  many  pages 
with  large  illustrated  black  letters  and  pictures,  till 
he  came  to  the  story  of  the  first  murder,  and  there 
was  a  picture  representing  the  murderer  with  a  great 
club  in  his  hands,  and,  pointing  and  looking  with  an 
air  of  triumph,  he  said,  "  There  Mr.  Ayliff,  do  you 
see  that  ?  Don't  you  see  it  plain  enough  that  Cain 
killed  his  brother  with  a  club  ?" 

"  Ah,  but  my  dear  sir,"  replied  Ayliff,  "  that  pic- 
ture was  not  a  part  of  the  inspired  narrative.  The 
artist  might  have  put  a  sword  into  his  hands  instead 
of  a  stick,  except  that  at  that  period  they  had  clubs, 
but  not  swords.  The  murderous  weapon  was  most 
likely  a  club  or  a  stone,  but  the  sacred  writer  has  not 
told  us  which.'" 

The  Dutchman  retorted  in  a  spirit  of  indignation, 
"  Now  when  a  man,  professing  to  be  a  teacher  of 
religion,  comes  and  tells  me  that  my  duly  authorised 
Holland  Bible,  which  cost  me  one  hundred  dollars, 
does  not  tell  the  truth  about  Cain,  I  want  to  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  him." 

REV.    MR.    BUTLER   AND   THE    ALLIGATOR. 

Some  of  the  rivers  of  Natal  abound  with  alligators, 
and  many  a  poor  fellow  has  been  dragged  down  and 
devoured  by  them.  Rev.  Mr.  Butler,  an  American 
missionary,  was  crossing  the  Umkumas  River  on 
horseback,  when  a  huge  alligator    seized   his   leg. 


THE    LAWYER    AND   HIS   ADVOCATE.  485 

He  held  on  for  life  to  his  horse,  and  dragged  the 
savage  beast  ashore,  and  happily  for  him  a  number 
of  Kaffir  women  were  near,  who  ran  to  his  rescue 
and  beat  the  horrible  creature  off  him.  The  wound, 
after  a  long  time,  was  healed,  but  the  minister  never 
fully  recovered.     He  has  since  returned  to  America. 

THE  LAWYER  AND  HIS  ADVOCATE. 

Mr.  Pincent,  of  D'Urban,  in  Mr.  George  Cato's 
judgment,  though  not  an  eloquent  pleader,  is  the  best 
law  counsellor  in  South  Africa.  After  he  had  been 
forward  with  our  seekers  several  times  feeling  after 
God,  his  case,  to  his  own  mind,  became  desperate, 
and  after  giving  me  a  relation  of  his  rebellion  against 
God,  he  inquired,  "Now,  do  you  think  there  is  any 
chance  for  such  a  vile  creature  as  I  am  to  be  saved  ?  " 
(He  was  regarded  as  a  moral,  right-minded  man,  but 
now  the  Holy  Spirit  had  revealed  to  him,  what  every 
sinner  must  see  before  he  will  consent  to  God's  terms 
of  salvation,  "  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin.-") 

I  assured  him  "  that  it  is  a  faithful  saying,  and 
worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners  " — even  the  very  chief 
of  sinners — and  that  if  he  would  but  surrender  to  God 
and  accept  Christ,  he  would  prove  the  truth  of  that 
glorious  announcement  straightway.  We  then  went 
into  the  details  of  the  struggle,  and  he  was  so  sick 
of  sin,  that  I  had  but  little  difficulty  in  getting  him 
to  consent  to  a  divorce  from  all  sin,  and  to  accept 
God's  will  as  the  rule  of  his  heart  and  life,  but  he 


486 


NATAL. 


stuck  sometime  at  the  believing  point.  He  wanted 
to  pray  on  till  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  would  give 
him  peace,  and  then  he  could  believe.  When  I  got 
him  to  see  clearly  that  he  must  have  confidence  in 
a  physician,  and  accept  him  before  he  could  hope  to 
be  cured  by  him,  he  next  stuck  at  the  mystery  in- 
volved in  such  a  work.  Realizing  his  antagonism  to 
God's  immutable  laws,  and  that  a  judgment  had  been 
given  and  recorded  against  him  in  heaven's  court, 
under  the  clearly  revealed  law,  "the  soul  that  sinneth, 
it  shall  die,"  "  He  that  belie veth  not  is  condemned 
already/5  he  could  not  see  how  it  was  possible  for 
his  legal  relations  to  God's  government  to  be  adjusted 
so  that  he  should  be  fully  reconciled  to  God. 

After  fully  explaining  the  Gospel  plan  of  salvation 
by  faith,  I  finally  got  him  down  to  the  saving  act  of 
faith,  by  the  following  illustration.  Jesus  Christ  is 
our  "Advocate  with  the  Father." 

"  Now  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  lie  understands 
His  professional  intricacies  and  difficulties.  If  He 
had  not  been  perfectly  qualified  for  that  responsible 
position,  He  would  not  have  been  admitted  to  the  bar 
of  heaven's  court  at  all.  Now  suppose,  Mr.  Pincent, 
that  one  of  your  clients  should  elbow  you  round  the 
corners  of  the  streets,  and  keep  insinuating,  '  I  can't 
see  how  you  are  to  conduct  my  suit  to  a  successful 
issue.  I  can't  understand  the  complications  of  the 
the  case,  it  seems  all  dark  to  me,  and  I'm  afraid 
you'll  not  succeed.'  Then  when  the  case  comes  on 
for  trial  in  court,  and  your  client  insists  on  «tanding 


THE    LAWYER   GAINED   HIS   SUIT.  487 

by  you  to  tell  you  how  to  conduct  the  suit,  and  every 
few  minutes  gives  you  the  benefit  of  his  counsel,  and 
dictates  to  you  how  you  should  attend  to  your 
own  business.  What  would  you  do,  sir  ?  You  would 
return  him  his  brief  straightway  !  Now  that  illus- 
trates your  treatment  of  '  our  Advocate  with  the 
Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous.'  If  a  client  un- 
derstood the  business,  he  would  not  employ  an  advo- 
cate, and  when  he  employs  one  he  thus  admits  that 
he  does  not  understand  it,  but  that  his  advocate  does, 
and  having  faith  in  his  advocate,  allows  him  to  con- 
duct the  suit  in  his  own  way,  and  is  not  concerned 
to  know  the  intricacies  involved,  but  the  successful 
issue."  This  being  the  last  point  in  the  penitential 
struggle  of  my  law}rer,  he  thus  saw  it  clearly,  and 
at  once  gave  his  case  fully  and  unreservedly  into  the 
hands  of  his  heavenly  Advocate,  and  that  very  day 
he  got  his  discharge  from  the  death-sentence  of  the 
law,  in  the  court  Divine,  certified  in  his  heart  by 
the  Holy  Spirit.  The  very  moment  God  saw  that, 
under  the  leading  of  the  awakening  Spirit,  he  fully 
surrendered  himself  to  God,  and  accepted  Christ,  at 
the  instance  of  his  "  Advocate/'  the  Father  "justi- 
fied him  freely  " — changed  his  relation  from  a  con- 
demned criminal  to  an  adopted  child,  and  then  being 
a  son,  "  He  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  His  Son  into  his 
heart,  crying  Abba  Father." 

From  that  Brother  Pincent  became  decidedly  active 
as  a  witness  and  worker  for  God,  and  very  useful  in 
leading  poor  sinners  to  Christ. 


4-88  NATAL. 

But  says  a  hypercritical  soul,  "  "Why  make  such  a 
free  use  of  a  gentleman's  name?"  Suppose  I  ask 
why  St.  Luke  gave  the  name  of  Sergius  Paulus,  the 
governor  of  Cyprus,  who  believed  under  Paul's 
preaching,  and  why  tell  us,  that  under  his  sermon 
on  Mars  Hill  one  of  the  judges  of  that  august  court, 
Dionysius,  was  one  among  others  who  believed?  Such 
facts  judiciously  stated  block  the  game  of  a  class  of  de- 
preciative  croakers,  common  in  all  countries,  who  are 
always  ready  to  insinuate  that  the  believers  in  Christ 
are  a  sorry  setof  weak-minded  souls,  composed  largely 
of  superannuated  old  women  and  little  children  ; 
and  then,  when  such  are  forestalled  by  such  examples 
as  Governor  Paulus  and  Judge  Dionysius,  they  are 
greatly  shocked  that  the  names  ol  such  should  come 
to  light.  I  made  an  allusion  to  Mr.  Pincent's  con- 
version in  Cape  Town,  and  one  of  those  hj^percritics 
made  a  blow  in  the  papers  about  it,  no  doubt  expect- 
ing to  turn  even  my  lawyer  against  me  for  using  his 
name  ;  but  I  had  the  pleasure  of  stating  at  my  next 
service,  that  it  was  by  Mr.  Pincent's  own  authority 
that  I  made  use  of  his  name,  having  said  to  me,  "  So 
much  of  my  life  has  been  wasted,  that  for  the  rest  of 
it  I  wish  my  time,  talents,  and  testimony,  all  used 
in  any  way  that  will  promote  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  salvation  of  sinners,  and  you  are  entirely  at 
liberty  to  make  any  use  of  my  name  you  like  for 
such  purposes."  In  the  colony  of  New  South  Wales, 
eight  lawyers  received  Christ  at  our  meetings,  and 
one  of  them,  a  barrister  and  crown  prosecutor,  has 


TRYING  TO  ACCOUNT  FOR  IT.        489 

been  used  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  salvation  of  a 
number  of  prominent  men  in  the  colony. 

THEORY    OF  THE    "WISEACRES." 

"We  have  seen  the  theory  of  the  heathen  Kaffirs 
at  "  Annshaw  "  for  solving  the  mysterious  phenome- 
non of  God's  work  there,  on  seeing  hundreds  of  their 
fellow  heathen  subjugated  to  Christ,  but  now  the 
enlightened  sages  of  Natal  try  their  hand.  Seeing 
bankers,  merchants,  mechanics,  and  all  classes  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest  yielding  to  the  invisible 
mysterious  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  they 
could  not  deny  the  presence  and  moving  power  of 
some  wonderful  agent,  so  their  magical  brains  went 
into  labour,  and  brought  forth  the  much  desired 
solution — for  it  was  a  very  serious  time  with  them, 
we  had  carried  the  strongholds  of  infidelity  by  storm, 
and  the  kingdom  of  their  father  in  that  colony  was 
shaken  to  its  centre.  Well  what  was  their  grand 
solution  ?     Electro-biology  and  mesmerism. 

Their  darling,  however,  had  but  a  puny  existence 
for  a  few  days,  and  suddenly  died.  My  friend,  Mr. 
George  Cato,  drove  me  twenty  miles  to  "  Aman- 
zimtote,"  one  of  the  American  mission-stations,  for 
a  couple  of  preaching  services,  through  a  pioneer 
interpreter,  Mr.  Joseph  Kirkman,  who  was  the 
speaking  medium  for  Rev.  Dr.  Adams  and  Rev.  A. 
Grant,  American  missionaries  there  from  the  year 
1838,  long  before  Natal  became  a  colony,  and  the 
night  I  was  absent  the  work  in  D'Urban  was  rather 


490 


NATAL. 


more  successful  than  usual,  and  many  souls  were 
saved.  The  "  mesmerizer  "  was  gone,  and  yet  the 
power  remained,  so  that  their  confusion  was  doubly 
confounded. 

George  C.  Cato,  Esq., 
Consul  of  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Denmark,  Consular 
Agent  for  the  United  States  of  America  for  Natal,  mer- 
chant, sugar  planter,  free  counsellor  on  all  colonial 
matters,  agent  for  the  American  missionaries,  and 
liberal  patron  of  good  things,  is  an  institution  of  the 
country  worthy  of  a  much  larger  space  than  my 
limits  will  allow,  but  the  following  extract  of  a  letter 
from  him  will  furnish  illustrative  glimpses  into  the 
character  of  the  man,  colonial  pioneer  life,  and  the 
recent  work  of  God. 

Natal,  13th  January,  1867. 
My  dear  and  beloved  Friend, 

It  was  with  unspeakable  pleasure  that  I  read  your  two 
notes  you  very  kindly  wrote  me,  the  last  one  written  near 
St.  Helena.  We  prized  the  likeness  of  yourself  and  your 
good  wife  that  you  sent,  and  shall  respect  the  giver  while 
life  shall  last.  It  is  not  very  likely  we  shall  forget  you. 
Some  of  us  in  this  country  reckon  things  and  times  by 
epochs,  such  as  when  the  Zulus  came  down  on  the  natives 
here,  but  finding  them  cooking  human  flesh  so  disgusted 
them,  that  they  would  not  soil  their  assegais  by  killing  the 
cannibals,  and  hence  left  the  country ;  then  the  arrival  of 
the  Dutch.  Boers  ;  then  the  Zulu  war,  which  a  good  and 
wise  Providence  allowed  to  sweep  off  all  the  old  English 
residents,  who  were  living  with  and  like  the  natives,  and  who, 
if  they  had  remained  alive,  would  have  b^en  the  cause  of 


LETTEIt   OF    GEORGE    C.    CATO,    ESQ.  491 

much  cold-blooded  murder.  Then  the  first  occupation  by 
British  troops;  then  their  leaving,  and  giving  up  the 
country  to  the  Dutch ;  then  their  coming  back  again,  and 
our  fight,  and  my  being  made  prisoner,  and  put  in  irons 
by  day  and  stocks  by  night ;  then  the  first  and  second  flood 
of  the  Umgeni  River,  and  our  starting  at  midnight  with 
a  boat  to  see  if  any  of  the  residents  of  the  lowlands  were  in 
danger,  and  saving  the  Smith  family,  who  had  got  to  a 
small  hill,  and  was  then  standing  in  water  breast  high. 
Then  the  arrival  of  Bishop  Colenso,  one  of  the  most  extra- 
ordinary men  I  ever  knew,  and  beyond  my  poor  compre- 
hension. Then  the  arrival  and  final  departure  of  our  good 
Governor,  one  of  my  best  friends,  Mr.  Scott,  with  a  few 
smaller  advents,  until  the  coming  and  going  of  not  the 
least  of  my  remarkable  days — when  you  came  and  went. 
I  don't  wish  you  any  harm,  but  I  wish  the  chapter  of  acci- 
dents would  just  land  you  here  again.  I  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  in  my  own  mind,  that  human  nature  is  human 
nature  under  all  circumstances,  and  a  predominant  feature 
thereof  is  an  insatiable  greed,  never  satisfied — some  crave 
one  thing,  and  some  another,  consequently  if  you  think 
there  are  not  souls  enough  to  be  saved  here  to  satisfy 
your  craving,  then  we  wiil  annex  the  Zulu  country,  and 
the  Dutch,  inland.  I  think  you  would  find  enough  here  to 
make  stars  for  your  crown,  and  we  should  welcome  you  in 
all  love  and  respect.  I  cannot  conceive  that  you  will  find 
a  country  where  your  good  would  be  more  enduring  than 
it  appears  to  be  here.  As  a  matter  of  course,  I  know  the 
fountain  from  which  this  good  comes,  and  that  strengthens 
my  argument,  you  had  the  approval  of  your  Master. 
Since  you  left  I  saw  a  letter  from  one  of  my  friends  to 
another,  saying  that  he  was  at  church  the  other  night,  and 
if  I  had  been  there  I  should  have  been  delighted,  as  the 
Bishop  said  during  his  sermon  that  some  men  were  spe- 


492  NATAL. 

cially  gifted  by  God  with  powers  to  awaken  their  fellow- 
men  ;  that  these  powers  did  not  depend  upon  great  learn- 
ing, but  were  a  special  gift  to  convey  His  messages  to 
mankind :  that  we  may  not  scrutinize  the  messenger  too 
narrowly,  but  must  obey  his  message ;  among  such  men 
he  named  a  Wesley,  a  Whitefield,  a  Spurgeon,  and 
a  Taylor. — Now  after  that  I  think  you  had  better  come 
back. 

It  may  be  worthy  of  remark,  that  near  the  close 
of  our  campaign,  Bishop  Colenso  called  at  the 
house  of  my  host,  Mr.  J.  II.  Grant,  in  D'Urban,  to 
see  me,  saying,  "  I  wanted  to  see  you  and  shake 
hands  with  you  before  you  leave.  God  has  given 
you  your  work  to  do,  and  you  are  doing  it,  and  He 
has  called  me  to  another  work  and  I  am  doing  my 
work.  You  don't  suppose  that  all  those  who  have 
been  brought  in  at  your  meetings  will  stand,  do 
you  ?"  I  replied,  "  I  certainly  do  suppose  that  the 
most  of  them  will  stand  to  the  death,  but  a  few  of 
them,  owing  to  their  veiy  bad  habits,  bad  associa- 
tions, and  the  influence  of  bad  examples,  may  relapse 
into  sin/'  Our  interview  being  short,  but  little 
passed  between  us  beyond  the  facts  given.  I  could 
readily  see  how  by  his  kind  gentlemanly  manner  he 
won  the  friendship  of  many  persons,  who  say  they 
receive  him  as  a  gentleman  without  any  reference  to 
his  ecclesiastical  character  and  relations. 

Francis  Harvey,  sen.,  of  Verulam, 
Is  one  of  the  natural  curiosities  of  the  Colony.    The 


FRANCIS    HARVEY,    SEN.  493 

following  scrap  from  his  journal  may  suffice  to  intro- 
duce him  : — 

"  This  happy  morning,  at  five  o'clock,  the  exact 
anniversary  of  my  birth,  seventy-four  years  since,  I 
find  myself  by  the  special  favour  and  goodness  of 
Almighty  God,  in  superior  health  and  energy  of 
body,  and  rich  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  every 
faculty  and  power  of  mind,  intellectual,  emotional, 
and  spiritual,  as  much  so  as  at  any  former  anniver- 
sary of  my  entrance  on  life's  pathway  ;  and  in  all 
and  everything  of  blissful  possession  and  sublime 
hope,  I  cannot  believe  there  exists  in  Africa,  or  in 
the  wide  world,  one  more  blest,  or  more  conscious 
of  entire  un worthiness  of  the  least  of  all  God's  mer- 
cies." 

Francis  Harvey  is  a  real  progressive,  a  teetotal  lec- 
turer and  Local  Preacher,  of  more  than  ordinary 
cleverness,  but  luxuriates  on  his  bright  memories  of 
the  past.  Among  many  other  interesting  things,  I 
heard  him  relate  the  story  about  Mr.  Charles  Wesley 
and  the  king's  "  men-of-war's  men "  with  so  much 
graphic  power,  that  I  requested  him  to  write  me  the 
story,  and  he  gave  me  the  following. 

A  century  since,  on  a  Sabbath  afternoon,  the  Rev.  Chas. 
Wesley  was  preaching  at  Portsmouth  in  the  open  air ;  a 
godless  naval  officer,  heated  by  the  demon  spirit  of  wine, 
and  heading  a  party  of  blustering,  swearing  men-of-war's 
men,  came  furiously  towards  the  assembled  hearers,  pur- 
posely to  disturb  and  drive  them  off.  Mr.  Wesley  wisely 
called  out  to  tiie  people,  "  Open  there,  right  and  left,  and 


494  NATAL. 

let  His  Majesty's  brave  tars  come  near  me."  The  effect 
was  electric,  they  who  were  ready  for  any  work  of  wicked 
violence  became  in  a  moment  disabled  and  dismantled  to 
the  very  clew-lines  of  their  hearts  ;  their  leader,  the  half- 
drunk  lieutenant,  paralysed  and  truly  taken  aback,  confused 
and  utterly  confounded,  dared  not  look  a  man  in  the  face ; 
honest,  weeping,  broken-down  veterans  for  the  Devil,  were 
helpless  as  maimed  infants,  and  the  old  lion  of  hell  himself 
had  to  skulk  away,  tail  between  his  legs,  as  best  he  could. 
The  sailors  had  come  up  singing  a  roystering  bullying  song, 
and  when  all  was  still  and  lulled  to  a  peaceful  calm,  Mr. 
Wesley,  who  was  pleased  with  the  lively  air,  and  smiling 
all  over  his  radiant  face,  offered  to  give  them  a  song  of  his 
own,  to  their  tune ;  and  he  did  so,  and  they  sung  heartily 
and  lustily,  as  Jack  in  a  storm  can  sing : — 

'Listed  into  the  cause  of  sin, 

Why  should  a  good  be  evil  ? 
Music,  alas  !  too  long  has  been 

Pressed  to  obey  the  devil 
Drunken,  and  light,  and  lewd  the  lay 

Flowed  to  the  soul's  undoing, 
Widen'd  and  strewed  with  flowers  the  way 

Down  to  eternal  ruin. 

Who,  on  the  part  of  God  will  rise, 

Innocent  sound  recover, 
Fly  on  the  foe  and  seize  the  prizef 

Plunder  the  carnal  lover, 
Rob  him  of  every  moving  strain, 

Every  melting  measure, 
Music  in  virtue's  cause  retain, 

Hescue  the  holy  pleasure. 

Who  hath  a  right  like  us  to  sing  ? 

Us  whom  the  Spirit  teaches  ? 
Merry  our  hearts,  for  Christ  is  king, 

Cheerful  are  all  our  faces. 


HARVEY   AND   COLENSO.  495 

Heaven  already  is  begun. 

Open'd  in  each  believer : 
Only  hclieve,  and  still  sing  on, 

Heaven  is  ours  for  ever ! 

Written  purposely  for  the  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor,  this  happy 
1 1 th  of  October,  1866,  by  his  loving  friend,  Francis  Har- 
vey, Verulam,  Natal,  in  his  seventy- fourth  year,  and  without 
glasses. 

At  the  first  service  held  in  D'TJrban  by  Bishop 
Colenso,  on  his  arrival  in  the  colony,  Father  Harvey 
was  present,  and  tells  the  following  : — 

"  The  Bishop  entered  the  plain  church,  as  it  was 
then,  walked  to  the  pulpit,  sat  down,  and  made  a 
scrutinizing  survey  of  the  rustic  audience.  I  being 
the  oldest  man  in  the  house,  with  a  white  beard,  he 
no  doubt  thought  I  was  a  vestryman,  and  came 
down  the  aisle  to  me,  and  said,  '  Are  you  an  officer 
in  the  church,  sir  ? ' 

"  '  Yes,  sir,  I  am  the  superintendent  of  a  Sabbath - 
school,  and  a  Local  Preacher  in  the  Wesleyan 
Establishment* 

" '  Ah,  ah,  indeed  ! '  replied  the  bishop  with  an 
air  of  disappointment,  and  walked  back  to  the  pulpit. 

"  After  a  little  he  came  to  me  again,  and  said, 
'  Have  you  been  long  in  this  country  ?  ' 

"  '  Yes,  sir,  about  ten  years/ 

"  '  What  induced  you,  at  your  time  of  life,  to  come 
so  far  ? ' 

'  "  I  had  some  promising  sons  for  whom  I  thought 
I  could  do  bettor  in  a  new  country.' 


496  NATAL. 

"  '  From  what  part  of  England  did  you  come  ? ' 

"  '  Cornwall,  sir ;  where  your  father  used  to  live 
before  he  removed  to  Devonshire.  I  used  to  go  to 
school  to  your  uncle,  William,  in  Cornwall.' 

"  By  this  time  all  who  were  sitting  near,  hearing 
the  conversation,  became  quite  interested. 

"  '  My  uncle,  William  ? '  inquired  the  Bishop. 

"  '  Yes,  sir,  your  uncle,  William  Colenso,  I  went  to 
school  to  him  many  a  long  day.  He  was  a  Wesleyan 
Local  Preacher  like  myself.' 

"  Sensation  among  the  listeners." 

The  bishop  took  it  very  kindly,  and  soon  returned 
to  the  pulpit.  He  left  the  old  officer  in  the  Wes- 
leyan Establishment. 

Father  Harvey  presented  me  with  a  little  poem 
he  composed  for  the  daughter  of  a  minister,  a  mem- 
ber of  his  class,  who  was  then  seeking  the  Lord,  and 
afterwards  became  a  very  exemplary  Christian : — 

"  Saw  ye  him  whom  my  soul  loveth  f  " — Canticles,  iii,  8. 

Where  the  friends  of  Jesus  meet, — 
Where  they  hold  communion  sweet,— 
Where  the  Lord  himself  is  seen,— 
Where  His  presence  oft  has  been,— 
Where  the  Holy  Spirit  rests, — 
Where  He  visits  Sion's  guests, — 
"Where  the  Father's  love  is  known,— 
Where  He  dwells  amongst  His  own,— 
Where  His  children  still  are  fed, — 
Where  He  breaks  the  living  bread, — 
Where  the  Shepherd's  Tents  are  seen,— 
Where  the  pasturage  is  green,— 


REVIVAL   INCIDENT  AT  VERULAM.  \   497 

Where  the  living  'waters  flow,— 
Where  the  trees  of  healing  grow,— 
Where  the  vale-birth'd  lily  grows,— 
Where  blooms  Sharon's  fragrant  rose,— 
Where  the  Flocks  in  peace  lie  down,— 
Where  the  Shepherd  guards  his  own,— 
There,  thou  wilt  thy  Saviour  meet, — 
Haste  thee, — worship  at  His  feet. 

F.  H.,  sen. 

One  of  Colenso's  friends  in  Verulam  was  telling 
Father  Harvey  about  the  Bishop's  eloquent  sermon 
there  the  Sabbath  preceding  my  visit,  and  said  that 
nothing  could  come  up  to  it.  Harvey  did  not  join 
issue  with  him  on  the  literary  merits  of  the  sermon, 
but  said,  "  As  for  the  demonstration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  applying  the  truth,  and  the  saving  power  of 
God,  I'll  explain  to  you  the  difference  between 
Colenso's  operations  last  Sabbath  and  the  work  now 
progressing  in  the  Wesleyan  chapel. 

"  See  a  silversmith,  with  a  beautiful  tiny  hammer, 
hammering  the  link  of  a  delicate  gold  chain,  and 
then  look  at  one  of  Nasmyth's  mighty  hammers, 
twenty-five  tons  in  weight,  stroke  after  stroke,  crash- 
ing down  on  red-hot  iron.  Imagine  a  moonbeam 
reposing  on  the  crest  of  an  iceberg,  in  contrast  with 
Nebuchadnezzar's  furnace  '  heated  seven  times  hotter 
than  it  was  wont  to  be  heated.'  " 

REVIVAL  INCIDENTS  AT  VERULAM. 

Stirring  incidents  they  were  too,  and  enough  to  fill 
a  volume,  but  my  space  will  admit  but  a  meag»e 

IK 


498  NATAL. 

skeleton  of  a  few.     I  will  insert  one  from  Pamla's 
division,  as  given  by  Charles. 

A  heathen  man  at  the  Inanda,  near  Verulam,  came  to 
one  of  my  meetings  when  I  was  there.  After  preaching, 
when  I  called  for  penitents,  the  heathen  man  came  forward. 
I  asked  him,  "  Do  you  give  up  your  sins  ?" 

"  What  sins  1 "  he  asked. 

I  replied,  "  Man,  don't  you  know  what  sins  are  ?" 

"  I  never  did  commit  any  sins." 

"  Man,  did  you  never  quarrel  or  fight  with  the  people  ?  " 
And  then  he  got  up  immediately  and  looked  in  my  face 
and  was  very  angry.     He  said  : 

"  What  sort  of  a  preacher  are  you  ?  Do  you  think  you 
are  a  better  preacher  than  our  preachers  here  ?  You  are 
not.  It  is  not  a  sin  to  hit  another  man.  Why  did  David 
kill  Goliath  ?  Now  if  David  was  a  good  man  and  could  do 
that,  it  is  not  a  sin.  I  may  fight  too.  Do  you  think 
that  I  would  let  another  man  come  and  kill  me  1    No." 

I  told  him  that  David  was  allowed  by  God  to  kill  Goliath 
because  Goliath  was  a  great  enemy.  You  are  allowed 
to  defend  your  country  and  to  kill  people  in  battle  yourself, 
but  not  at  home  ;  God  says,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill  nor  hate 
thy  brother.''  The  next  time  he  came  to  my  meeting  he 
was  sorrowful,  and  told  me  that  he  was  a  great  sinner  and 
kneeled  down,  gave  up  his  sins,  received  Christ,  and  found 
peace. 

The  engravings  of  the  "Zulu  young  gentlemen/' 
and  "  Captain  Ngoya,"  are  specimens  of  the  naked 
neathen  daily  seen  in  the  streets  of  the  towns,  as 
well  as  throughout  the  country  ;  but  the  saved 
heathen  are  "  clothed  and  in  their  right  minds," 
like  the  Gadarene. 


CAPTAIN    NGOYA  IN    NATIVE    HEATHEN*    DRESS. 


"  BELIEVE,  JIM  !    ACCEPT  CHRIST   NOW."  499 

At  my  last  service  in  Verulum,  forty-two  souls 
entered  into  liberty.  A  man  said  "Mr.  Garland,  go 
and  talk  to  that  poor  fellow  "  (pointing  to  a  man  down 
on  his  knees  among  the  penitents),  "  he  is  a  Roman 
Catholic,  and  needs  help."  Garland  went  to  him 
and  said,  "  Are  you  willing  to  give  up  all  your  sins 
and  surrender  your  soul  to  God  ?  *' 

"  I  have  done  that,  sir,"  replied  the  Catholic. 
"Are  you  willing  on  the  faith  of  God's  record,  con- 
cerning His  Son,  to  acceptChrist  now  as  your  Saviour?" 
"  I  have  accepted  Him,  sir." 
"  When  did  you  accept  Him  ?  " 
"  To  night,  sir,  since  I  knelt  down  here." 
"  Does  He  save  you  from  your  sins  ?  " 
"  Yes,  sir,  He  has  saved  me.     I  feel  it !    T.  know  it, 
He's  my  blessed  Jesus  !  " 

A  young  colonist  among  the  seekers,  who  re- 
ceived Christ  and  obtained  the  renewing  of  His 
Holy  Spirit,  at  once  went  to  work  in  his  blunt 
simplicity  to  help  his  struggling  friends  to  come  to 
Jesus,  and  was  made  a  blessing  to  some ;  he  said  to 
a  young  friend  who  was  weeping  and  praying, 
"  Believe,  Jim !  accept  Christ  now  !  Do  it  sharp  as 
I  did !  He'll  save  you  this  moment  if  you'll  only 
accept  Him ! "  His  friend  came  to  the  point, 
believed  "  sharp,"  and  was  saved.  Miss  Cubit,  who 
was  saved  at  D' Urban  and  was  made  very  useful  at 
our  Verulam  Meeting,  said  to  me  in  the  last  hour  of 
our  last  service,  "  Do  come  and  speak  again  to  Mr. 
Tynney,  he  seems  to  be  sinking  into  utter  despair" 


500  NATAL. 

As  I  approached  him,  he  exclaimed,  "  0,  Mr.  Taylor 
I  am  lost !  I  feel  the  dreadful '  ivy  of  sin '  around  my 
soul,  and  I  can't  break  it.  I  feel  that  there  are  at 
least  1,000  devils  in  me,  they  are  all  alive  in  me, 
and  I  can't  get  them  out !  Do  you  think  there  is 
any  chance  for  me  ?  " 

"  Your  case  is  bad  enough  you  see,  and  all  the 
good  men,  and  good  angels  in  the  Universe  com- 
bined, could  not  eject  a  single  devil  from  your  heart, 
but  Jesus  Christ  can  save  you  this  moment.  He 
cast  a  legion  of  devils  out  of  the  Gadarene  by  a  word, 
and  He  will  save  you  if  you  will  surrender  yourself 
to  God,  and  believing  His  testimony,  receive  Christ  as 
your  Saviour.  You  are  under  the  sentence  of  death, 
your  life  is  forfeited,  and  you  can't  do  better  than 
throw  your  whole  being  on  the  mercy  of  God,  in 
unreserved  submission  to  His  will,  to  do  with  you 
as  He  likes.     Do  you  surrender  to  Him  ?  " 

"  O  yes,  I  do  by  His  help  give  myself  to  God  to 
do  with  me  as  He  wishes." 

"  Have  you  sufficient  confidence  in  Jesus,  from 
what  you  have  read  and  heard  about  Him,  to  accept 
Him  as  your  Saviour  ?  " 

"  O  yes,  I  am  willing  to  accept  Him,  I  have  no 
hope  in  any  other." 

"Thank  God  for  the  willingness,  that  is  the  fruit 
of  His  awakening  Spirit,  but  it  must  be  developed 
into  the  fact  of  an  actual  acceptance  of  Him.  Do  you 
accept  Him  now  ?  " 

"OI  can  get  no  light  I  * 


"OH!    I  FEEL  SO  UTTERLY  WRETCHED."         501 

"  No,  and  you  never  will  get  the  light  till  you 
receive  Chiist." 

"  0,  but  I  can't  feel  His  love  !  " 

"  No,  and  you  never  will  feel  His  love,  till  you  be- 
lieve on  Him  and  take  Him  as  your  Saviour.  You 
want  to  feel  His  pardoning  love  and  then  believe. 
That  is  expecting  the  cure  before  you  accept  the 
physician,  which  is  quite  out  of  the  question." 

"01  feel  so  utterly  wretched  !  Is  there  no  hope 
for  me  ?  " 

"  None  whatever,  while  you  look  to  yourself.  The 
sailor  said  to  his  fellow,  '  You  may  just  as  well  look 
into  the  hold  of  the  ship  to  find  the  north  star,  as  to 
look  to  your  self  for  salvation.'  You  must  accept 
the  Great  Physician  by  faith,  faith  in  His  Gospel 
credentials,  give  your  case  into  His  hands,  consent  to 
His  treatment,  and  leave  Him  to  exercise  His  own 
wisdom  and  skill  to  cure  you  in  His  own  way/' 

"  But  what  if  I  get  no  relief  ?  I  can't  feel  any  wit- 
ness of  the  Spirit." 

"You  still  want  to  get  relief,  and  feel  the 
Spirit's  witness  before  you  are  pardoned,  which 
is  utterly  impossible.  The  witness  and  renewing  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  as  much  a  matter  of  provision 
as  the  atonement  itself  and  as  immutably  reliable. 
That  is  not  your  part  of  the  business.  Your  business  is 
to  "  repent  and  believe  the  Gospel  " — surrender  to 
God,  and  accept  Christ,  and  you  may  be  sure  the  Holy 
Spirit  will  not  fail  to  fulfil  His  engagement  in  the 
matter.  Do  you,  my  dear  brother,  now  accept  Christ?  " 


502  NATAL. 

"  I  don't  feel  that  I  do." 

"  It  is  not  by  feeling,  but  by  believing,  not  pre- 
sumption, but  the  most  intelligent  faith  in  God's 
most  intelligible  testimony.  If  you  believe  what 
God  says  about  Christ,  is  Christ  not  worthy  of  your 
confidence,  and  if  so,  why  not  entrust  your  case  in 
His  hands,  and  take  Him  now  as  your  Saviour  ? 
If  you  have  any  mental  reservations  you  are  not  ac- 
cepting Him,  but  dictating  terms  to  Him  which  He 
will  spurn.  You  can  accept  Him  only  on  His  own 
terms  as  a  Saviour  from  sin,  with  your  hearts'  consent." 

"  0  I  do  give  up  everything  !  I'll  die  if  I  don't 
get  relief !  " 

"  Yes,  and  you  will  perish  eternally  if  you  do  not 
receive  the  only  Saviour  of  sinners.  Now  in  full 
confidence  in  the  blood  shedding  of  Jesus  for  the 
sins  of  the  whole  world,  His  prayers,  as  your  Great 
High  Priest,  His  power  to  save  the  very  chief  of  sin- 
ners, His  invitations  and  promises,  confidence  in  His 
willingness  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  that  come 
unto  God  by  Ilim,'  accept  Him  as  your  Saviour.  He 
is  'meek  and  lowly  of  heart,'  your  most  sympathising 
Friend,  the  only  friend  you  have  who  loves  you 
enough  to  die  for  you,  and  His  heart  of  love  is  just 
the  same  now  as  when  He  poured  out  His  heart's  blood 
on  the  cross,  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  for  ever,  and  you  have  not  to  ascend  or  descend 
to  bring  Him;  He  is  nigh  thee.  Do  you  accept  Him? 

"  Yes,  I  do  accept  Him  !  I  do  accept  Him  !  I 
do  accept  Him — Glory  be  to  God,  He  saves  me  I    He 


CONVERSION   OF   A   SCEPTIC.  §03 

has  pardoned  all  my  sins  and  delivered  my  soul ! 
Glory  to  God  and  the  Lamb,  I'm  saved  !  "  His 
mother,  a  good  woman  who  had  been  telling  me 
that  day  with  tears  that  poor  Fred  was  possessed,  and 
she  feared  would  never  be  saved,  embraced  her  re- 
turned prodigal  and  shed  floods  of  prateful  tears,  and 
could  truthfully  exclaim,  •'  This  my  son  was  dead, 
but  is  alive  again,  he  was  lost  but  is  found."  The  next 
morning,  Frederic  B.  Fynney,  for  that  is  his  name, 
said  to  me,  "  I  know  four  African  languages.  I  know 
the  Kaffir  better  than  I  know  the  English,  and  I  owe 
such  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  God  for  saving  my  soul, 
and  I  feel  such  sympathy  and  love  for  the  Kaffirs, 
that  I  believe  God  has  called  me  to  devote  my  life  in 
leading  them  to  Jesus.'"  He  commenced  preaching 
straightway ;  we'll  hear  of  him  again. 

J.  W.  Stranack,  a  clever  young  man,  who  was 
said  to  have  been  the  special  correspondent  who  did 
the  puffing  of  Colenso's  recent  sermons  in  Verulam 
for  a  D'TJrban  paper,  surrendered  himself  to  God  and 
accepted  Christ  on  the  faith  of  God's  record,  on 
that  memorable  "  last  night "  in  Verulam. 

The  following  extract  of  a  letter  to  me  from  him 
will  tell  its  own  story  :— • 

Verulam,  Natal,  May  10th,  1867. 
My  dear  father  in  Christ,  for  such  I  must  ever  regard 
you,  I  have  purposed  ever  since  my  uncle,  Garland,  heard 
from  you,  to  write  you  some  account  of  my  own  progress, 
and  that  of  your  Verulam  converts,  and  also  to  tell  you  of 
the  work  we  are  each  endeavouring  to  do  for  Christ.     A 


504  NATAL. 

sceptical  view  with  which  I  had  become  accustomed  to 
regard  every  thing  connected  with  personal  religion  and  a 
contempt  for  professors  of  religion,  who  were,  as  I  con- 
sidered, credulous  enough  to  accept  the  dogmas  of  Chris- 
tianity merely  because  they  were  told  they  were  so,  had 
become  so  settled,  that  I  regarded  my  own  conversion  as 
certainly  the  most  unlikely  thing  under  the  sun.  You 
came ;  I  attended  the  Wesleyan  chapel  as  usual,  new  feel- 
ings, new  desires  were  awakened.  I  saw  truth  as  I  never 
saw  it  before.  The  sermon  on  Wednesday  morning,  Octo- 
ber 10th,  on  Christian  perfection,  fairly  brought  me  to  the 
point.  I  saw  Christianity  to  be  something  worth  having, 
grand,  noble,  and  I  resolved  that  I  would  count  all  things 
loss  if  I  might  gain  Christ.  I  went  to  the  altar  of  prayer 
the  same  evening,  was  enabled  to  "  surrender  and  to  accept 
Christ."  The  following  Tuesday  evening,  at  the  prayer- 
meeting,  I  felt  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  clear,  unmistakable, 
that  I  was  accepted  of  God,  and  a  settled  peace  filled  my 
soul.  Since  that  time  I  have  had  seasons  of  temptation, 
severe  indeed,  but  am  still  able  to  maintain  my  facts,  and 
am  resolved,  in  every  purpose  and  power  of  my  being,  to 
be  fully  the  Lord's.  I  felt  at  once  the  necessity  of  doing 
something  for  God,  both  for  the  sake  of  my  own  maintenance 
of  spiritual  strength,  and  in  order  to  save  souls,  and  pro- 
mote the  cause  of  our  common  Saviour.  A  month  after 
my  conversion  one  of  our  Local  Preachers  took  me  with 
him  to  preach  at  one  of  the  two  services  he  had  to  conduct. 
I  went  out,  also,  during  the  four  or  five  months  following 
with  three  other  of  our  local  brethren,  and  on  two  occasions 
went  alone  as  a  supply.  The  brethren  considered  me 
qualified  for  the  work,  and  have  placed  me  on  trial  as  a 
Local  Preacher.  I  preached  on  Sabbath  evening  in  D'Urban 
and  had  the  glorious  privilege  of  seeing  one  make  a 
stand  for  God,  and  find  peace  through  Christ. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE    MISSION    WORK   IN    SOUTH   AFRICA. 

TlJ£  letter  embodied  in  this  chapter,  published  in 
the  Graham's  Town  Journal,  and  republished  in  the 
Watchman,  and  in  the  Wesley  an  Missionary  Notices,  in 
London,  contains  a  brief  outline  of  the  Gospel  theory 
for  evangelizing  the  world,  illustrated  by  numerous 
facts  in  these  pages,  and  also  practical  suggestions 
bearing  specially  on  the  mission  work  in  Africa, 
entitled,  it  would  seem,  to  a  permanent  record  in  a 
bound  book,  and  hence  its  insertion  entire  just  as  it 
was  first  written.  I  thought  of  putting  it  in  as  an 
appendix,  but  I  don't  fancy  postscripts  and  ap- 
pendices, and  have  decided  to  give  it  the  place  to 
which  in  the  order  of  events  it  belongs — the  close 
of  our  campaign  in  Natal.  I  was  not  able  to  gratify 
Hev.  T.  Jenkins  by  sending  Charles  back  through 
Pondo-land,  having  already  detained  him  a  month 
longer  than  the  time  agreed  upon  with  his  superin- 
tendent, so  I  sent  him  by  steam-ship  to  Port  Elizabeth, 
nearly  a  week  before  I  and  the  other  two  members 
of  my  party  sailed.  James  Roberts  fulfilled  his  part 
nobly,  not  only  in  bringing  "  me  on  my  way,"  but 


50 G  THE    MISSION    WORK   IN    SOUTH   AFRICA. 

in  pointing  penitent  souls  the  way  to  Jesus.  He  was 
thoroughly  enlightened  by  the  Spirit,  and  not  one 
believer  in  a  thousand  could  explain  the  simple  way 
of  salvation  by  faith  so  clearly  as  could  Brother 
Roberts.  He  accompanied  me  to  Cape  Town,  and 
helped  me  in  my  meetings  in  different  places  in 
those  memorable  places,  where  Rev.  Barnabas  Shaw, 
the  first  Wesleyan  Missionary  to  Africa,  planted 
the  Gospel  standard  over  fifty  years  ago.  Mr. 
Roberts  provided  an  excellent  nurse  for  Africanus, 
our  seventh  son,  then  but  two  months  old,  to  serve 
us  during  our  voyage  to  London.  The  blessing  of 
our  covenant-keeping  God  rest  upon  my  dear  brother 
James    Roberts. 

The  following  letter  was  written  on  our  voyage 
of  1,000  miles  from  Natal  to  Cape  Town. 

As  I  am  now  returning  to  Capetown  from  my  tour  of  spe- 
cial services  in  the  Eastern  Province,  Kaffraria  and  Natal, 
and  expect  to  proceed  to  England  by  the  November  mail,  I 
wish,  through  your  popular  Journal,  respectfully  to  submit 
a  few  thoughts  on  what  I  regard  the  best  methods  of 
evangelisation.  The  mission  work,  commenced  through 
the  ministry  of  the  Rev.  Barnabas  Shaw  in  Cape  Town  about 
fifty  years  ago,  and  by  the  Rev.  Win.  Shaw  in  the  Eastern 
Province  about  forty-six  years  ago,  has,  through  the  pray- 
ers and  liberality  of  good  people  in  England,  and  the  perse- 
vering efforts  of  faithful  missionaries  and  their  friends  here, 
under  the  fostering  care  of  the  Great  Shepherd,  gone 
forward  and  prospered. 

The  Wesleyan  Missions  in  Southern  Africa,  embracing 
white  colonists,  according  to  the  returns  of  last  year  (1865) 


BASE   LINE   AND   DEPOT   OF    SUPPLIES.  507 

report:  138  chapels,  3  59  preaching  places,  63  missionaries 
and  assistants,  389  local  preachers,  8,331  church  members, 
1,235  on  trial,  54,790 attending  public  worship,  128  Sunday- 
schools,  10,163  Sunday-school  scholars,  103  day-school 
teachers,  11,457  day-scholars.  When  we  weigh  these 
figures,  and  take  into  the  account  the  widely  extending  in- 
fluence of  such  a  wc'k  beyond  ;  not  to  apeak  of  the  great 
work  wrought  here  by  other  branches  of  the  Christian 
Church,  which  my  limited  space  will  not  allow,  we  may  well 
exclaim,  "  What  hath  God  wrought!  " 

But  glorious  as  is  the  work  accomplished,  I  believe  the 
mission-stations  of  Southern  Africa,  extending  coastwise 
for  nearly  1,500  miles,  with  a  similar  line  on  the  West 
coast,  constitute  but  a  base  line  and  depot  of  supplies  ne- 
cessary to  a  more  direct  decisive  movement  into  the  in- 
terior of  the  continent. 

The  establishment  of  a  mission-station  in  a  purely  heathen 
country  appears  to  require  something  like  the  foundations 
of  a  "  new  state,"  civil  and  religious.  A  large  grant  of 
land  is  secured  from  the  chief,  with  treaty  stipulations  that 
while  the  mission-station  is  his,  the  missionary  being 
answerable  to  him  for  the  good  conduct  of  the  people  in 
this  new  community,  the  chief  is  not  to  interfere  with  the 
internal  government  of  the  mission  people.  It  is,  indeed, 
designed  to  be  a  model  of  Christian  government,  embody- 
ing Gospel  teaching,  schools  for  education,  mechanical  in- 
dustries, in  short,  a  miniature  Christian  nation,  for  the 
government  of  which  a  heathen  chief  has  no  qualifications. 
The  mission  station,  too,  is  by  consent  of  parties,  a  sanc- 
tuary to  which  all  persecuted  people  under  suspicion  of 
witchcraft,  or  other  undefinable  offences,  may  flee  and  be 
safe,  while  they  remain  there.  The  missionary  practically 
becomes  the  chief  of  this  mission  tribe.  He  is  the  minister, 
the  magistrate,  the  superintendent  of  the  schools,  and  often 


508  THE    MISSION    WORK    IN    SOUTH    Anne,-, 

the  teacher  as  well,  the  master  mechanic,  the  patron  in 
general  of  all  the  arts  of  civilization  which  the  heathen 
should  learn,  and  he  soon  gets  work  enough  on  his  hands 
fully  to  employ,  and  often  utterly  consume,  his  energies  and 
his  life.  The  uninitiated,  especially  now  that  heathenism 
in  these  parts  is  awed  by  the  presence  of  English  Colonial 
Governments,  can  form  no  adequate  idea  of  the  complicated 
difficulties  our  missionary  fathers  had  to  encounter  in  plant- 
ing the  Gospel  standard  in  this  empire  of  darkness;  and  far 
be  it  from  mc  to  indulge  a  thought,  or  drop  an  insinuation 
rellecting  on  their  wisdom  or  fidelity  in  establishing  the 
missions  just  as  they  did.  They  have  done  their  work 
nobly,  and  many  of  them  have  already  received  of  the 
Master  the  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  enter 
thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord."  While  they  enjoy  the  glory 
of  God  in  heaven,  let  them  be  honoured  by  men  on  earth. 
But  now  that  they  have  established  a  base  of  operations, 
the  time  will  come,  and  I  believe  has  come,  when  we  should, 
from  this  base,  develop  a  more  simple,  direct,  economical, 
and  a  more  thoroughly  effective  system  of  evangelization 
for  the  conquest  of  the  entire  continent.  The  necessity 
for  such  a  movement  may  be  seen  from  the  following 
facts  :  According  to  published  statistics,  there  are  in 
the  Cape  Colony  and  Natal  nearly  half-a-million  of 
African  natives.  It  is  believed  by  old  Missionaries  and 
others  who  have  the  best  means  of  forming  an  approxi- 
mately correct  idea,  in  the  absense  cf  a  census,  that  the 
different  tribes  of  Kaffraria  amount  in  the  aggregate  to  at 
least  250,000  souls.  (Rev.  E.  Solomon  says  300,000.) 
Add  to  these  the  tens  of  thousands  embraced  in  the  lines  of 
the  Bechuana  district,  and  in  the  Free  State,  and  we  shall 
have  nearly  a  million  natives  within  the  bounds  of  our 
South  African  Missions.  Among  all  this  mass  of  heathen 
population,  accessible  to  the  Gospel,  according  to  last 
year's  report  (1866),  we  have  8,247  Church  members. 


MISSION    STATIONS.  50& 

We  have  rip  to  this  day  but  one  Christian  ruling  Kaffir 
chief,  and  his  is  the  only  Kaffir  tribe  that  has  to  any  great 
extent  received  Christ ;  the  great  majority  of  our  stations 
being  composed  of  Fingoes.  This  vast  field,  white  for  the 
harvest,  to  say  nothing  of  the  millions  of  souls  in  the  inte- 
rior, calls  loudly  for  additional  labourers,  wbile  the  Mission- 
ary Society  is  calling  out  for  retrenchment.  Now  what  is  to 
be  done  ?  I  would  not  give  up  to  the  authority  of  heathen 
chiefs  the  mission-stations  which  have  grown  up  under  the 
civil  administration  of  the  missionary,  as  in  the  case  of 
Shawbury.  Let  them  remain  as  seats  of  education,  and 
"  cities  of  refuge,"  as  long  as  such  a  protective  arrangement 
may  be  necessary. 

But  unless  a  very  clear  Providential  necessity  should 
arise,  let  no  more  mission-stations  be  established  on  that 
plan.  Education  and  all  other  appliances  of  civilization 
will  follow  in  the  wake  of  Gospel  triumphs,  and  should  be 
amply  provided  for,  but  if  all  these  must  precede  the  Gospel, 
or  go  abreast  with  it,  as  part  of  the  missionary's  work,  they 
will  so  circumscribe  and  trammel  his  movements  that  he 
will  have  but  little  time,  and  strength  left,  for  carrying  "  the 
war  into  Africa,"  beyond  the  lines  of  the  station. 

I  do  not  propose  any  fundamental  changes  in  our  itinerant 
system,  but  having  our  mission  stations  with  all  their  re- 
sources, with  the  Bible  in  Kaffir,  Zulu,  and  other  African 
languages,  I  would  respectfully  submit  what  I  believe  to  be 
the  best  method  of  greatly  increasing  the  working  effect- 
iveness of  our  missions,  without  greatly  increasing  the  cosi 
to  the  Missionary  Society  of  carrying  them  on.  I  don't 
propose  any  new  plan,  but  the  old  plan  so  successfully 
worked  by  St.  Paul  and  his  fellow-missionaries.  I  will  give 
%n  outline  of  what  I  regard  the  purely 

EVANGELICAL    PLATFORM. 

The  Gospel  is  adapted  to  humanity  in  all  its  forms,  from 


510  THE    MISSION   WORK    IN    SOUTH    AFRICA. 

the  most  learned  philosopher  to  the  most  degraded  heathen. 
All  the  knowledge  essential  to  the  salvation  of  a  poor  hea- 
then may  be  aequired  in  a  very  short  time— his  pollution 
of  soul  by  sin,  his  guilt,  his  condemnation  and  exposure  to 
penalty,  his  bondage  to  Satan,  and  that  God  hath  provided 
and  now  offers  to  him,  in  Christ,  a  ransom,  a  cleansing 
fountain,  an  Almighty  deliverer.  Through  the  quickening 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  he  may  learn  all  this  under  the 
preaching  of  a  single  Gospel  sermon,  or  even  under  the 
prophetic  witnessing  of  a  few  laymen.  "  If  all  prophesy, 
and  there  come  in  one  that  believeth  not," — a  poor  sceptic, 

who  had  heard,  but  did  not  believe  these  Gospel  tidings 

"  or  one  unlearned," — a  poor  heathen  who  knew  nothing 
about  them — "  he  is  convinced  of  all,  he  is  judged  of  all; 
and  thus  are  the  secrets  of  his  heart  made  manifest,  and  so, 
falling  down  on  his  face,  will  worship  God,"  and  finding  salva- 
tion in  Christ,  will  be  able,  as  a  witness  for  Jesus,  to  "  report 
that  God  is  in  you  of  a  truth."  The  Gospel  plan  not  only 
embraces  "  pastors  and  teachers  "  for  the  watch,  care,  and 
edification  of  the  Church,  but  also  "  apostles,  prophets,  and 
evangelists,"  for  the  development  and  effective  employment 
of  the  combined  forces  of  the  Church  in  bold  aggressions 
into  the  kingdon  of  darkness.  "The  Acts  of  the  Apostles," 
extending  through  a  period  of  over  thirty  years,  though  full 
of  thrilling  history,  was  not  written  merely  as  history,  but 
the  Holy  Spirit  evidently  designed  thus  to  illustrate  the 
practical  application  and  effects  of  Gospel  principles,  doc- 
trines, and  methods  necessary  to  the  salvation  of  the  world. 
Every  fact,  therefore,  is  an  authoritative  teaching  fact, 
and  every  character  portrayed,  a  representative  character. 
Nearly  the  whole  record  of  facts  from  the  travels  and  labours 
of  Barnabas  and  Paul  and  their  coadjutors,  authoritatively 
teach  and  illustrate  God's  own  methods  of  spreading  the 
Gospel.     Whether  in  Jerusalem,  at  the  great  Pentecost, 


GOSPEL   METHODS   OF    AGGRESSION.  51.1 

or  subsequently  in  Antioch,  Athens,  Corinth,  or  Ephesus, 
and  all  other  illustrative  examples  given  us  by  St.  Luke, 
the  plan  was  to  consecrate  their  most  effective  forces 
"daily,"  and  thus  they  added  daily  to  the  Church  such  as 
were  saved. 

This  is  not  at  all  in  conflict  with  the  ordinary  methods 
of  "  exhortation,  edification,  and  comfort,"  of  believers,  and 
individual  efforts  to  win  souls  to  Christ.  The  aggressive 
methods  should  not  be  allowed,  in  any  degree,  to  supersede 
the  ordinary  means.  Like  the  various  departments  of 
military  warfare,  they  are  so  many  essential  parts  of  one 
great  plan.  The  recruiting,  daily  drill,  reconnoitcring,  and 
skirmishing  are  not  to  supersede  the  forward  march  of  the 
grand  army ;  nor  are  the  victorious  charges  of  the  grand 
army  to  do  away  with  these  preliminary  departments  of  the 
service.  Special  revival  efforts  to  be  sure,  involve  hazards, 
as  all  great  movements  do.  When  the  "  Church  maketh 
increase  of  herself"  by  ordinary  means  only,  the  increase  is 
principally  of  those  who  have  been  under  training  in  her 
Sunday  Schools  and  stated  ministry,  persons  whose 
general  moral  character  and  associations  would  be  a 
guarantee  for  their  good  behaviour  as  church  members, 
whether  they  were  truly  converted  to  God  or  not.  Whereas 
a  special  revival  effort  is  like  dragging  the  "  great  net," 
bringing  up  all  sorts  of  fish,  rendering  it  necessary  to  select 
"  the  good  and  throw  the  bad  away,"  as  the  Saviour  illus- 
trates. On  the  other  hand,  I  believe  that  nearly  one-third 
of  the  converts  in  a  great  revival,  were  nominal  members  of 
the  church  at  the  time  of  their  conversion.  After  many 
ydars  of  patient  drilling  and  preparation  in  Southern  Africa, 
we  have  recently  tried  this  Gospel  method  of  a  daily  "  con- 
centration of  effort "  for  a  few  days  together  in  different 
places.  In  every  place  there  has  been  a  hearty  co-operation 
of  ministers  and  people.    God  hath  in  every  instance  owned 


5  J  2         THE   MISSION    WORK    IN   SOUTH   AFRICA. 

their  labours,  and  crowned  them  with  success,  so  that  m 
Cape  Colony,  Kaffraria,  and  Natal,  during  the  space  of 
five  months  and  twenty  days,  the  ministers,  on  a  personal 
examination  of  each  case,  with  record  of  name  and  address, 
reported  over  4,000  souls  converted  to  God.  (That  turned 
out  to  be  but  the  first  gathering  of  the  harvest  as  we  went 
along,  but  the  full  returns  a  few  weeks  later,  swelled  the 
aggregate  to  about  double  that  number).  Over  one 
thousand  of  these  are  whites,  a  large  majority  of  natives 
under  training  on  the  mission-stations,  with  a  good 
sprinkling  of  heathen.  Probably  one-fourth,  or  more,  of  the 
whole  were  nominal  members  of  the  church.  On  at  least 
two  of  our  large  mission-stations,  the  missionaries  say  all 
their  people  are  now  converted,  and  hence  such  another 
harvest  on  the  same  field  cannot  soon  be  gathered ;  but 
with  good  drilling,  these  communities  can  make  new 
aggressions  into  the  regions  beyond.  The  unsaved  millions 
of  tins  continent  belong  to  the  heritage  of  Jesus,  and 
should  be  brought  home  to  His  fold.  Plenty  of  work  for 
everybody.  Let  every  believer  be  always  trying  to  save 
somebody.  How  shall  we  best  conserve  and  extend  this 
great  work  of  God  ?  I  can  only  plead  for  a  fair  trial 
of  the 

APOSTOLIC    PLAN 

What  is  the  ordinary  mode  of  aggression  beyond  our  base 
— the  mission- stations  ?  I  believe  it  is  to  send  out  local 
preachers  as  pioneers  among  the  heathen  kraals  every 
Sunday,  with  an  occasional  tour  and  periodical  ser- 
vices by  the  missionary,  when  his  unceasing  pressing 
duties  on  the  station  allow  it.  After  the  labour  "of 
years,  a  little  society  is  formed,  composed,  it  may  be,  of 
a  few  superannuated  old  heathen  women,  and  an  old 
pauper  man  or  two.  This  society,  under  the  title  of  an 
"out-station,"  is  to  the  surrounding  heathen  an  exponent 
of  Christianity,  a  representation  to  their  minds  of  the  work 


APOSTOLIC  PLAN  OF  EVANGELIZATION.  513 

of  the  great  God  we  tell  them  about,  and  but  excites  their 
scorn  and  contempt.  We,  however,  pity  their  ignorance, 
and  go  on  fostering  this  little  society,  till  in  the  progress 
of  years  it  grows  to  a  respectable  church,  and  a  really  good 
work  is  wrought  and  many  souls  saved,  but  the  mass  of  its 
contemporaneous  heathen  have  meantime  gone  down  to 
pei'dition. 

Now,  instead  of  this  plan,  or  rather  in  addition  to  it,  in 
humble  reliance  on  the  broad  charter  of  the  Gospel  and 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  I  would  select  a  few  of  the 
best  native  preachers  in  the  country. 

We  would  go  then  into  the  principal  centres  of  population, 
and  pitch  our  tents,  and  by  all  legitimate  means  arrest  the 
attention  of  the  people,  and  "  dispute  with  them  daily,"  till 
the  God  of  battles  would  give  us  1,000  or  3,000  souls 
according  to  the  extent  of  the  available  population.  We 
would  immediately  organize  a  church,  and  establish  good 
discipline,  under  an  effective  pastorate.  From  such  a 
centre,  under  the  influence  of  such  an  exhibition  of  the 
saving  power  of  Jesus,  we  would  send  forth  into  the  neigh- 
bouring kraals,  Local  preachers,  and  all  sorts  of  lay  agency, 
and  give  them  healthy  exercise  and  good  vantage  ground 
for  winning  souls.  So  soon  as  we  should  thus  get  the 
work  in  a  new  field  thoroughly  organized,  we  would  strike 
our  tents,  and  be  off  to  another  great  centre  of  population, 
and  so  "  speak  that  a  great  multitude  *ould  believe."  By- 
and-by,  Barnabas  and  Mark  could  go  to  Cyprus,  while 
Paul,  Silas,  Timothy,  and  Luke  should  press  their  way 
into  new  and  more  extensive  fields. 

In  praying  the  God  of  the  harvest  to  send  forth  labour- 
ers into  our  new  fields,  whether  as  evangelists,  pastors  or 
teachers,  we  would  expect  that  most  of  them  would  be 
Native  Africans,  who  would  gladly  submit  to  the  general 
Kuperintendency  of  the  white  missionaries  so  long  as  the 
Providential  necessity  for  such  agency  might  exist. 

LI 


514         THE   MISSION   WORK   IN   SOUTH   AFRICA. 

This  will  lead  us  to  consider  the 

KAFFIR     STANDARD    OF    MINISTERIAL    EDUCATION. 

Nearly  every  Kaffir  you  meet  is  an  orator.  Their  power 
as  law  pleaders  is  proverbial,  and  every  Kaffir  child  speaKs 
its  language  correctly.  Rev.  Mr.  Appleyard,  who  has 
given  to  the  Kaffirs  the  whole  Bible  in  their  own  language, 
told  me  that  he  never  heard  a  Kaffir  make  a  grammatical 
blunder  in  speaking  the  Kaffir  language.  To  teach  a  Kaffir 
Latin  and  Greek,  to  prepare  him  to  preach  to  Kaffirs,  in  a 
language  without  a  literature,  is  not  only  a  waste  of  time, 
but  is  likely  to  remove  him,  in  his  feelings,  modes  of 
thought,  and  habits  of  life,  so  far  above  his  people,  as 
greatly  to  weaken  their  mutual  sympathy,  and  in  many 
ways  increase  the  difficulty  of  his  access  to  them.  Of  course 
we  would  not  object  to  the  multiplication  of  such  men  as  Rev. 
Tyo  Soga,  but  shall  the  car  of  salvation  stand  still  and 
millions  of  heathen  perish  while  we  are  waiting  for  the 
schools  to  turn  out  such  agents  as  he  ? 

When  the  tribes  of  Africa  become  Christianized  and 
civilized  they  may  require  a  high  literary  standard  of  min- 
isterial education,  and  would  also  have  the  facilities  and  the 
men  to  use  them.  For  the  present,  our  Kaffir  ministers 
should  be  able  to  read  and  write  well  in  their  own  language; 
«md,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  read  and  write  the  English. 
They  should  be  holjwien  of  God,  called  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  preach  the  Gospel, — men  thoroughly  instructed  in  our 
doctrines  and  discipline ;  men  who,  individually  feel  that 
'  Woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  Gospel,"  and  who  have 
"gifts,  grace,  and  fruit";  men  who  will  cheerfully  consent 
to  go  anywhere,  this  side  the  gates  of  perdition,  to  save 
miners — ever  ready  to  preach  or  to  die  for  Jesus. 

WHERE   ARE  WE  TO    GET    THE    MONEY    FOR    SUCH  A  WORK  ? 

Whenever  we  shall  succeed  by   the  renewing  power  of 


"l'vE  A  SHARE  IN  THE  CONCERN/'  515 

the  Holy  Spirit,  in  getting  ll  a  great  multitude  "  converted 
to  God,  we  should  say  to  them,  "  God  designs  you  to  be 
men,  and  not  a  set  of  children  to  be  hanging  on  the  coat- 
tail  of  some  foreign  '  umfundisi.'  We  will  together  thank 
God  for  sending  missionaries  over  the  sea  to  give  you  the 
Gospel,  and  we  will  always  reverence  and  love  them  ;  but 
now  that  you  have  embraced  the  Gospel,  God  requires  you 
to  support  and  extend  it.  He  hath  given  you  land, 
grain,  and  cattle  in  abundance ;  He  hath  given  you  heads, 
and  hearts,  and  hands ;  and  now,  through  faith  in  Jesus, 
you  have  received  the  '  gift  of  eternal  life.'  Now  you  need 
a  chapel,  a  preacher's  house,  and  school-house,  and  God 
expects  every  one  of  you  to  help  in  this  great  work.''  We 
would  at  once  show  them  the  plans,  and  systematically  or- 
ganize them  for  the  work.  A  little  sweep  was  seen  in  a  snow- 
storm running  down  a  street  in  New  York  city.  "  Hallo, 
Jack  !  which  way  are  you  going  ?  "  "  I'm  going  to  the 
missionary  meeting  ;  I've  a  share  in  the  concern  ;  I  gave  a 
shilling  to  it  last  Sunday."  Thus  we  would  give  every 
saved  heathen  "  a  share  in  the  concern."  Drawing  them 
'out  of  the  channels  of  their  heathenish  habits,  we  would 
give  them  plenty  of  new  and  useful  employment,  and  allow 
them  no  time  for  backsliding.  We  would  thus  make  our 
infant  churches  self-sustaining  from  the  start.  St.  Paul's 
new  churches,  among  the  heathen,  were  not  only  self-sup- 
porting, but  gave  liberally  for  the  support  of  their  poor 
widows,  and  for  the  poor  Jews  in  Judea  besides.  In  some 
cases,  to  be  sure,  St.  Paul  refused  to  receive  a  support  for 
himself,  but  it  was  no  doubt  because  he  was  establishing 
for  the  church  God's  own  system  of  finance,  and  he  would 
not  leave  a  peg  on  which  his  slanderers  might  hang  a  sus- 
picion that  his  grand  financial  scheme  was  for  his  own 
personal  advantage.  According  to  this  system  every  one 
of  them  was  expected  to  lay  by  in  store — the  first  day  of 


516         THE   MISSION   WORK   IN   SOUTH  AFRICA. 

every  week,  according  as  the  Lord  had  prospered  them, — 
at  least  a  tenth  of  their  net  income,  with  "  free-will  offer- 
ings "  besides,  according  to  God's  ancient  law  for  mankind, 
and  to  which  the  Jews  of  those  days  yielded  ready  obedience. 

While  we  "  have  the  poor  with. us,"  and  while  the  Gos- 
pel is  preached  by  men,  this  law  will  be  necessary,  and  hence 
obligatory. 

Our  native  ministers  womu  not  require  more  than  one- 
fourth  of  what  is  necessary  to  support  a  foreign  missionary. 
It  would  not  be  best  to  raise  them  above  the  people  too 
fast,  butto  advance  as  fast  as  they  could  raise  their  people  with 
('item.  We  would  promise  our  men  plenty  of  hard  work,  hard 
fare,  and  a  martyr's  crown  if  they  could  fairly  win  it ;  and 
they  would  have  an  opportunity,  no  doubt.  This  brings  to 
view  a  glimpse  of  the  moral  effect  of  such  a  movement  upon 
the  church.  Mr.  Geo.  Cato  said  to  me  the  other  day,  "  Why 
is  it  that  the  Gospel  has  so  little  effect  upon  the  Moham- 
medans ?  "  "  Mohammedanism/'  I  replied,  "  is  so  bitter  in 
its  opposition  to  Christianity,  and  has  such  a  tenacious  hold 
upon  its  devotees,  that  the  mild  conservative  type  of  modern 
Christianity  is  not  adequate  to  grapple  successfully  with* 
euch  an  organization  of  superstition  and  sin  ;  nor  indeed  to 
gain  very  fast  on  heathenism,  or  successfully  to  resist  the 
inroads  of  infidelity,  and  worldliness,  even  in  Christian 
countries."  I  felt  it  to  be  a  humiliating  confession  to  have 
to  make,  but  does  not  the  logic  of  facts  prove  its  truth. 
But  let  us  have  a  healthy  development  of  the  essential 
aggressive  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  carrying  the  "  glad  tidings  " 
from  city  to  city,  and  from  country  to  country,  accord- 
ing to  the  Gospel  precedents  adduced — now  a  chief  or  king 
converted  to  God,  now  an  evangelist  martyred,  now  a  city 
conquered,— the  sympathy,  prayers,  and  co-operation  of 
every  Christian  in  the  world  would  be  freely  invested  in 
such  an  enterprise.     Everybody  would  be  inquiring  daily 


HEROIC  TYPE   OF    CHRISTIANITY.  517 

about  the  progress  of  the  great  work  of  God  in  its  grand 
march  to  the  conquest  of  the  world.  We  would  have  a 
living  thing  worthy  of  God  and  humanity,  and  adequate  to 
its  ends.  Such  a  work  would  wake  the  heroic  elements  of 
man's  nature.  How  they  are  brought  out  by  thS  tocsin  of 
war  !  Within  the  last  five  years,  nearly  a  million  of  men 
have  laid  down  their  lives  on  the  altar  of  patriotism.  A 
low  type  of  Christianity  that  does  not  enlist  and  employ 
the  whole  man,  sinks  down  to  a  formal  secondary  thing 
with  him,  and  the  active  elements  of  his  nature  are  carried 
off  into  other  channels  of  enterprise.  The  heroic  power  of 
man's  nature,  enlisted  and  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  is 
essentially  the  old  martyr  spirit,  which  kept  the  Gospel 
chariot  moving  in  the  olden  time.  What  had  Garibaldi  ever  to 
offer  to  his  soldiers  ?  But  did  he  ever  call  in  vain  for  an 
army  of  heroes  ready  to  "  do  or  die  ?  "  He  knows  how  to 
arouse  the  heroic  element  of  men's  hearts. 

Every  passion  and  power  of  the  human  mind  and  heart 
should  be  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  purposes 
for  which  they  were  designed.  There  is  no  field  of  enter- 
prise to  which  the  heroic  element  of  our  nature  is  better 
adapted,  or  more  needed,  than  the  great  battlefield  for 
souls,  enlisting  all  the  powers  of  hell  on  the  one  side,  and 
all  the  powers  of  heaven  on  the  other.  What  an  heroic 
record  the  Gospels  give  of  the  labours,  sufferings,  death, 
and  resurrection  of  the  "  Captain  of  our  Salvation,"  and 
the  noble  army  of  martyrs  trained  under  his  personal  ministry. 

Give  these  Gospel  methods  of  aggression  a  fair  trial  in 
Southern  Africa.  Hundreds  of  natives  who  have  recently 
been  converted  to  God  can  read  and  write,  and  we  also  have 
many  native  whites  who  are  as  well  acquainted  with  the 
Kaffir  language  as  with  the  English.  With  such  resources, 
under  continued  and  improved  facilities  of  education,  and 
the  fostering  care  of  our  faithful  missionaries,  now  in  the 


518         THE    MISSION    WORK    IN    SOUTH    AFRICA. 

field,  the  God  of  the  harvest  would  doubtless  raise  up  all 
the  labourers  the  increasing  demands  of  the  work  might 
require.  The  native  agency  already  employed  by  our 
missionaries  at  Fort  Peddie,  Annshaw,  Morley,  and  else- 
where, has  been  worked  very  satisfactorily,  and  the  four 
native  brethren  just  admitted  as  candidates  for  the 
ministry,  promise  great  usefulness  to  the  church. 

Such  a  movement  as  we  have  described  would,  under  the 
leading  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  bring  out  hundreds  of  Africa's 
sons  who  would  gladly  share  the  greatest  hazards  of  mis- 
sionary life.  They  would  not  unnecessarily  provoke  perse- 
cution ;  would  patiently  endure  it,  or  "  flee  from  one  city 
to  another,"  if  necessary,  but  if  such  should  be  manifestly 
the  will  of  God,  they  would  die  for  Jesus  as  cheerfully  as 
the  martyrs  of  the  Apostolic  age. 

My  convictions  of  the  importance  of  this  movement,  and 
my  desire  to  help  my  dear  brethren  in  the  full  development 
of  this  plan  in  practical  effect  in  Southern  Africa,  have  so 
occupied  my  mind  and  heart,  that  for  months  past  I  have 
been  praying  to  God,  that  if  it  were  his  will  to  adjust  my 
family  and  Conference  relations  to  this  work,  and  call  me  to 
it,  I  would  gladly  spend  and  be  spent  in  this  great  battle 
for  African  souls.  I  have,  however,  finally  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  God  designs  the  glorious  work  here  to  be 
carried  on  by  others,  and  will  employ  me  in  the  same  work 
in  some  other  part  of  the  world. 

If  my  fellow-labourer,  Brother  Charles  Pamla,  and  a  few 
others  were  set  apart  as  were  "  Barnabas  and  Saul "  for 
this  work,  and  properly  sustained  in  it,  I  believe  the  Holy 
Ghost  would  do  a  work  through  them  that  He  could  not  so 
readily  do  through  me. 

Let  this  aggressive  method,  so  fully  illustrated  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  be  adopted  and  wisely  worked  through- 
out the  world,  and  we  would,  under  the  Holy  Ghost,  develop 


*  WATCHMAN,  WHAT  OF  THE  NIGHT  ?"  519 

a  healthy  heroic  spirit  of  Christianity,  which  would  throw 
off  the  incubus  of  unbelief  and  spiritual  death  against 
which  it  is  struggling,  and  would  enable  her  successfully  to 
grapple  with  the  insidious  forms  of  worldliness  and  sin 
in  Christian  countries,  with  Mohammedanism  and  all  forms 
of  heathenism.  Then  the  darkness  would  soon  be  past. 
The  dismal  cry,  "  Watchman,  what  of  the  night  ?  "  would 
be  heard  no  more.  Then  we  should  see  the  mellow  light  of 
millennial  glory  reposing  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains. 
"  The  glory  of  the  Lord  would  be  revealed,  and  all  flesh 
would  see  it  together."  The  jubilant  shout  of  the  final 
victory  of  our  all-conquering  King  would  pass  along  the 
lines  of  the  sacramental  hosts,  and  be  echoed  back  from 
every  island,  mountain,  and  continent,  "  Hallelujah !  the 
Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth." 

WM.  TAYLOB. 

Steam-ship  Mauritius?  off  Cape  of  Good  Hope^ 
October  18th,  I860. 


CHAPTER  XXVIL 

REVIEW   OF  THE    WORK    AND     ITS     PROGRESS   TO   THR 
.»  PRESENT   TIME. 

"  Paul  said  unto  Barnabas,  Let  us  go  again  and  visit 
our  brethren  in  every  city  where  we  have  preached 
the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  see  how  they  do."  Would 
that  I  could  do  the  same  in  Africa !  I  will,  however, 
take  my  dear  reader  to  those  places  where  I  have 
"  preached  the  word  of  the  Lord,"  and,  we  will  learn 
from  the  brethren  "  how  they  do."  From  the  most 
reliable  sources  I  will  respectfully  submit  statistics 
and  facts,  which  will  at  least  furnish  an  index  to  the 
manifest  extent  of  the  work  of  God  in  those  fields 
during  my  sojourn  in  Africa,  and  up  to  the  time 
of  my  departure;  and  although  my  limited  space 
will  not  allow  a  review  in  consecutive  order,  I  will 
select  from  a  large  amount  of  interesting  matter  in 
hand,  a  few  miscellaneous  facts,  illustrative  of  the 
progress  of  the  work  to  the  present  time. 

Rev.  Thomas  Guard,  in  a  letter  dated  November 
14th,  1866,  says  : — 

I  have  been  to  Somerset,  to  Queen's  Town,  and  to  Fort 


rev.  t.  guard's  letter.  521 

Beaufort  since  your  visit  to  those  towns,  so  that  I  am  able 
to  give  you  the  latest  information  respecting  the  progress 
of  the  work. 

Last  Tuesday  was  a  thanksgiving  day  of  our  Church  in 
this  city  (Graham's  Town).  Thanks  for  rain  ;  thanks  for 
payment  of  debt  on  our  Chapel — £3,000  ;  thanks  for  the 
grace  of  God  in  connection  with  your,  ever  to  be  remem- 
bered, visit — showers  of  rain,  of  gold,  of  grace,  but  the 
greatest  of  these  is  grace  ;  and  I  am  glad  to  assure  you  the 
grace  abides.  Classes,  prayer-meetings,  Sunday  and  week- 
day preaching  services,  all  continue  to  evince  the  power  and 
mercy  of  the  God  of  Hosts.  In  Queen's  Town  nothing 
could  be  more  delightful  than  the  state  of  our  Society,  "in 
fellowship,  breaking  of  bread,  and  prayers."  I  could  see 
the  change  more  clearly  than  you,  as  I  had  been  there  but 
a  short  time  before  your  visit.  Dugmore  is  in  a  most 
heavenly  state  of  mind,  and  preaches  with  unwonted  might 
and  unction.  In  Beaufort  Brother  Wilson  rejoices  over  the 
most  prosperous  and  growing  state  of  spiritual  life.  In 
Somerset,  especially  in  the  country,  whither  many  who 
were  converted  in  town  carried  back  the  flame,  the  good 
work  triumphs,  and  finds  in  Brother  Edwards  an  indefati- 
gable overseer. 

Cradock  is  remarkably  advancing,  every  service  adds 
souls  to  Christ ;  the  town  is  all  a-fire  with  zeal  and  love. 
Those  brought  to  God  in  this  city,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
stand  fast  in  the  faith.  One  or  two  young  people,  of  whom 
we  had  some  doubts,  have  gone  aside ;  but  we  trust  to  seo 
them  reclaimed,  or  really  converted.     *     *     * 

Annshaio  heads  the  list  as  to  the  numbers  saved 
during  the  season  of  refreshing. 

Rev.  Brother  Lamplough,  by  letter,  November  7th, 
1866,  says : — 


522  PROGRESS   OF  THE   WORK. 

Charles  arrived  at  home  all  right,  and  very  glad  I  was 
to  see  him  again,  though  I  am  thankful  to  say  I  have  got 
a  first-rate  interpreter,  indeed,  I  think  he  surpasses  Charles 
in  that  line,  and  is  also  a  very  powerful  preacher,  though 
in  the  latter  work  we  have  no  one  here  to  come  up  to 
Charles.  I  am  very  pleased  that  Charles  went  with  you  to 
Natal,  and  that  you  had  such  a  glorious  journey.  It  is  truly 
wonderful  to  hear  of  all  the  wonders  wrought  by  the  Lord 
among  the  heathen  in  so  short  a  time.  *  *  You  will 
be  pleased  to  hear  that  the  work  still  continues  to  progress 
in  this  circuit.  I  have  lost  count  almost  of  numbers  ;  but 
at  least  1,200  profess  to  have  found  peace  with  God  on 
this  circuit,  and  there  seems  every  reason  to  believe  that 
we  shall  have  a  fresh  ingathering  on  a  large  scale,  soon. 
The  best  of  it  is,  our  men  are  beginning  to  work  so  beauti- 
fully, and  if  they  only  keep  up  to  the  mark,  as  they  are  at 
present,  I  see  no  reason  why  the  work  should  not  continue 
to  go  on.  The  clear  experience  of  those  who,  until  just 
lately,  were  heathen,  and  the  wonderful  way  in  which  the 
little  children  speak  about  the  things  of  God  is  most 
astonishing.  The  last  quarterly  visitation  for  tickets,  was 
one  of  the  most  delightful  seasons  I  have  ever  experienced. 

For  purposes  of  mutual  edification  and  Christian 
fellowship,  all  the  members  of  the  "Wesleyan  socie- 
ties are  divided  into  classes,  to  be  met  weekly  by  a 
leader,  who  is  a  sub-pastor,  and  quarterly  by  the 
minister. 

Brother  Lamplough,  in  a  more  recent  letter, 
speaking  of  the  effect  of  the  revival  on  the  "Native 
Helpers,"  says : — 

A  young  Kaffir,  a  candidate  for  the  ministry,  has  been 
greatly  owned  of  God  in  the  conversion  of  about  300  soula 


SUCCESS  OP  THE  ANNSHAW  WORKERS.  623 

the  past  year.  Another,  an  elderly  man,  who  can  do  but 
little  more  than  read  a  hymn,  has  also  been  very  useful 
among  the  red  heathen.  His  method  is  as  follows  :  Having 
selected  a  particular  village,  he  spends  about  a  week  in 
earnest  importunate  prayer  for  that  village,  sometimes 
rising  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and  going  into  the  chapel 
to  \nrestle  for  the  souls  of  the  heathen,  until  he  has  con- 
fidence that  souls  will  be  given  him.  He  then  sets  forth, 
taking  with  him  a  few  earnest  men  to  help  him  to  sing, 
pray,  and  exhort ;  and  after  continuing  thus  to  labour  for 
some  days,  employing  the  time  between  the  services  in 
visiting  the  heathen  in  their  huts,  he  calls  for  those  who 
are  awakened  by  the  Spirit,  under  the  preaching,  to  come 
and  bow  down  in  prayer  as  seekers,  and  very  soon  he  is 
surrounded  by  weeping  penitents,  who  are  soon  changed 
into  happy  believers.  The  believers  and  penitents  are  then 
brought  to  the  station,  where  special  prayer-meetings  are 
held  until  all  are  enabled  to  rejoice  in  God.  One  day  I 
heard  the  sound  of  joyful  singing,  and  looking  up  I  saw  a 
sort  of  triumphal  procession  coming  over  the  hill.  In  front 
was  one  of  our  leaders,  carrying  on  a  long  stick  a  number 
of  heathen  ornaments;  behind  him  were  about  a  dozen 
heathen  who  had  torn  off  their  ornaments,  some  were 
weeping  bitterly,  and  others  manifesting  joy  and  gladness  ; 
behind  them  were  other  leaders  and  members,  to  the 
number  of  about  twenty,  who,  as  they  came  to  the  station, 
were  singing  a  hymn  of  triumph.  It  seemed  like  a  minia- 
ture representation  of  the  last  time,  when  "  the  mountain  of 
the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  in  the  tops  of  tne 
mountains,  and  all  nations  shall  flow  into  it."  I  must  not 
dwell  on  this  subject.  I  may  just  say  that  the  greatest 
blessing  in  connection  with  your  visit  amongst  us,  was  the 
wonderful  effect  it  had  on  our  Native  Helpers.  They  be- 
came new  men,  and  not  only  displayed  remarkable  zeal  in 


521  PROGRESS   OF   THE    WORK. 

working  for  souls,  but  much  wisdom  in  winning  them  to 
Christ.  Your  coming  seemed  to  be  like  a  new  life  opening 
before  our  native  labourers  ; .  they  became,  not  only  more 
willing  to  go  forth  to  work  for  Christ,  but  were  taught  how 
to  do  it  successfully.  Even  the  new  converts  at  once  go  to 
work  for  God,  with  success.  A  heathen  man,  in  the  midst 
of  a  large  village  of  red  people  (wild  heathen,  painted  jsvith 
red  ochre),  after  his  conversion,  stood  up  and  declared  that 
God's  word  was  true,  and  told  the  people  what  he  felt.  He 
then  proceeded  to  address  them  in  a  most  wonderful  way, 
and  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  so  remarkably  mani- 
fested, that  it  seemed  that  the  whole  village  was  moved. 
I  might  tell  you  of  many  heathen  men,  who  have  given  up 
their  plurality  of  wives,  and  retained  only  their  first ;  but 
these  things  we  expect,  and  therefore  they  have  not  pro- 
duced much  impression  on  our  minds." 

The  old  veteran  missionary,  Rev.  Mr.  Shepstone, 
chairman  of  the  Queen's  Town  district,  writes  under 
date,  May  1st,  1867,  saying  : — 

"  You  will  be  glad  to  learn  that  the  work  of  God  which 
you  saw  begun  here  on  this  station,  as  well  as  on  the  others, 
where  we  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  such  blessed  results 
of  your  labours,  did  not  die  with  your  departure,  nor  di- 
minish in  your  absence — we  added  more  in  number  on  this 
station  after  you  left,  than  we  had  done  while  you  were 
with  us — some,  after  public  service  came  forward  and 
voluntarily  confessed  their  sins  before  all.  One  woman 
after  confessing  various  sins,  said,  '  it  was  I  who  stole  the 
thatch  that  was  to  have  thatched  the  school-house.'  This 
woman  was  a  thorough  heathen,  living  about  seven  miles 
from  the  station.  A  man  near  the  same  place,  was  putting 
on  his  European  clothes,  when  his  wife,  a  heathen,  saw  him, 


PERSECUTIONS  FROM  THE  HEATHEN.  525 

and  asked  '  Where  are  you  going? '  '  To  the  chapel  service,* 
was  the  reply.  '  Take  them  off !  take  them  off!  don't  you 
know  they  catch  everybody  ?  You  will  be  caught.  Take 
them  off  !'  And  he  did,  and  he  has  not  been  caught  yet ! 
But  many  more  have — many  have  been  known  to  run  out  of 
the  service,  simply  because,  as  they  confessed,  that  had 
they  remained,  they  must  have  yielded  to  the  convictions 
that  came  upon  them. 

Some  have  been  beaten,  some  have  been  tied  fast  to  the' 
posts  of  their  houses  by  persecuting  heathen  husbands 
that  they  might  not  attend  the  means  of  grace,  and  in  one 
instance,  the  poor  woman  has  yielded  for  the  present. 
Others  have  persecuted  their  children  and  succeeded  in 
keeping  them  back ;  whilst  others  have  been  bold  as  cham- 
pions for  the  truth,  and  though  young,  their  Christian 
courage  is  delightful. 

At  one  place,  about  seven  miies  from  us,  there  Avere  two 
young  girls,  of  about  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  two  cousins, 
daughters  of  a  head  man  and  his  brother.  These  were  con- 
verted while  you  were  here,  but  having  been  found  praying 
in  the  mountain  together  by  the  father's  younger  brother, 
the  father  told  them  he  would  have  no  praying  in  his  family, 
none  had  ever  prayed,  and  he  would  not  allow  it.  If  they 
would  persist,  they  should  leave  the  place,  which  they  did 
and  came  to  me.  I  sent  for  the  head  man  to  know  the 
truth.  He  denied  any  knowledge  of  the  girls  having  been 
driven  from  their  homes,  and  promised  to  allow  his  daughter 
full  liberty  of  action.  He  was  as  good  as  his  word — she 
returned  home  with  her  father,  and  a  few  days  afterwards, 
the  old  chief  bought  her  proper  clothing  to  attend  God's 
house.  The  other  being  the  daughter  of  the  most  insolent 
opposer,  refused  to  return  with  her  uncle  until  he  had  come 
down  and  seen  me— I  sent  for  him  to  ask  him  how  it  was 
his  daughter  was  a  wanderer.     He  of  course  denied  the 


526  PROGRESS  OF  THE  WORK. 

persecution.     I  had  a  fine  opportunity  of  giving  him  a 
personal  sermon,  and  inviting  him  to  the  mercy  of  God. 

The  old  grey-headed  polygamist,  promised  the  same 
liberty,  and  both  have  ever  since  I  believe  been  growing  in 
grace— besides  that  they  have  been  instruments  in 
bringing  nearly  twenty  other  young  people  at  the  same 
river,  to  embrace  the  Gospel  of  salvation.  But  the  old 
heathen  parents,  have  by  one  stratagem  or  another,  suc- 
ceeded in  keeping  back  the  greater  part,  or  sending  them 
away  to  heathen  friends  at  a  distance.  Still  the  word  of 
God  is  not  bound." 

Another  venerable  old  missionary,  Rev.  J.  Cameron, 
Chairman  of  Natal  district,  writes  as  follows : 

The  Lord  made  you  an  instrument  of  much  good  to  many 
souls  in  this  country,  and  the  memory  of  your  visit,  will  be 
cherished  with  delight. 

The  work  which  began  in  D'Urban  when  you  were  here 
is  still  going  on,  though  with  less  outward  demonstration,  . 
than  under  your  personal  ministrations.  The  new  converts, 
I  am  thankful  to  say,  with  but  few  exceptions,  are  progres- 
sing in  divine  life.  All  the  means  of  grace  are  well  attended, 
and  characterized  by  much  of  the  unction  from  the  Holy 
One.  The  noon-day  prayer-meeting,  in  the  Chapel,  is  still 
kept  up,  though  the  attendance  is  not  so  large  as  formerly. 
Those  who  do  attend,  can  generally  say,  "  Master,  it  is  good 
for  us  to  be  here."  We  have  a  fortnightly  public  band- 
meeting,  which  has  proved  a  great  blessing,  especially  to  our 
young  people,  many  of  whom  bear  delightful  testimony  to 
the  fact  of  their  continued  interest  in  Jesus.  Some  of  the 
young  men  who  speak  the  Kaffir  language,  manifest  great 
zeal  for  the  salvation  of  the  Kaffirs.  We  have  put  some 
half-dozen   on   the   plan,    as    Kaffir   exhorters,    and  they 


w  FORWARD  MARCH  "  OF  NATAL  SOLDIERS.         527 

are  going  on  with  their  work.  Bro.  Langley  has  engaged 
to  meet  them  once  a  week  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
them  special  instruction  as  to  the  best  modes  of  getting 
and  communicating  knowledge.  Still,  with  all  our  precious 
means  and  appliancts,  we  need  much  larger  baptisms  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  which  we  hope  will  be  vouchsafed  to  us. 
Instead  of  twos  and  threes  occasionally  crying  for  salvation, 
we  want  to  hear  crowds  doing  so  every  time  we  meet.  We 
have  much  agonising  prayer  for  this,  and  much  faith  too, 
which  I  am  persuaded  cannot  be  in  vain.  In  Kaffir  land  we 
mean  to  adopt  more  strenuous  measures  for  the  conversion 
of  the  heathen,  and  are  only  waiting  for  the  sanction  of  our 
Home  Missionary  Committee  to  a  plan  for  this  purpose 
submitted  for  their  consideration.  The  plan  agrees  with  your 
views,  so  far  as  the  agency  we  can  command  will  allow,  and 
if  carried  out  successfully,  will  encourage  us  to  do  some- 
thing on  a  larger  scale,  by-and-by. 

Rev.  Ralph  Stott,  the  indefatigable  old  Indian 
missionary,  who  is  now  in  charge  of  the  7,000  Coolies 
in  Natal,  says  of  the  work  in  D' Urban,  by  letter 
in  WesUyan  Missionary  Notices,  for  February,  1867, 

I  have  been  in  several  revivals  within  the  last  45  years, 
in  connection  with  David  Stoner,  Thomas  Walker,  Joseph 
Wood,  Messrs.  Palmer,  and  in  Batticaloa,  and  have  often 
seen  glorious  results,  but  was  never  in  a  revival  which  pleased 
me  so  well.       *  *  *  '  *  * 

Numbers  who  have  been  converted  in  this  revival  are 
now,  under  the  influence  of  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in 
their  hearts,  working  for  God  both  amongst  the  English 
and  Kaffirs,  and  thus  new  centres  of  light  and  influence,  and 
power,  are  established  in  the  land,  which  will  in  time  tell 
on  thousands    beyond.      Many   young  Englishmen   have 


528  PROGRESS   OF   THE    WORK 

Kaffir  tongues,  and  renewed  hearts,  and  they  are  using  both 
for  God.  I  wish  some  of  them  had  Tamil  and  Hindustani 
tongues. 

Rev.  Richard  Hayes,  Jun.  minister  in  Pie.termaritz- 
berg,  writing  for  the  Missionary  Notices  for  January, 
1SG7,  says  of  the  work  there  : — 

At  Pietermaritzberg  the  members  of  society  have  been 
strengthened  and  established  in  the  faith,  and  not  a  few 
have  been  added  unto  the  Lord.  The  good  work  has  "ra- 
dually  advanced  :  none  have  fallen  away,  and  a  good  many 
have  been  added  since  Mr.  Taylor  left  us.  The  simple  but 
clear  and  scriptural  narrations  of  conversion,  to  which  we 
have  listened,  and  the  evidences  of  fruit  in  the  life,  have 
produced  the  conviction  that  the  work  among  those  newly 
converted  has  been  genuine. 

Rev.  IT.  S.  Barton,  superintendent  of  Verulam 
Circuit,  writes  for  the  March  number  of  Missionary 

Notices,  saying  : — 

As  before,  so  since  Mr.  Taylor  left,  the  work  has  been 
going  on,  so  that  at  our  last  Quarterly  Meeting,  we  were 
enabled  to  report  a  hundred  and  six  English,  and  a  hundred 
and  ninety-five  natives,  on  trial,  being  almost  as  many  as 
our  present  members.  We  have  taken  one  new  English 
preaching-place  on  the  plan,  and  five  native  places,  with 
throe  English  young  men  on  trial  as  Local  Preachers  ;  and 
nine  young  men,  English  and  native,  to  engage  in  native 
work.  My  heart  does  indeed  rejoice  in  the  Lord's  work ; 
and  I  feel  I  can  heartily  bless  God  for  bringing  men  so  de- 
voted to  His  work  for  a  time  into  our  neighbourhood. 
The  success  is  more  marvellous  when  the  spareness  of  the 
population  is  considered. 


MTSSIONAKY    TtEPOUTS.  529 

As  the  greater  part  of  my  work  in  Africa  was 
in  the  Eastern  Province  of  Cape  Colony  and  Kaf- 
fraria,  principally  in  the  Graham's  Town  and  Queen's 
Town  Mission  Districts,  I  will  extract  from  the 
annual  Report  of  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society 
a  tabular  view  of  those  two  districts,  which  will 
furnish  a  statistical  index  to  the  late  work  of  God, 
and  also  furnish  an  illustrative  specimen  of  the  work- 
ing appliances  of  Wesleyan  Missions. 


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532  PROGRESS    OF    THE    WORK. 

An  egotistic  display  of  numbers,  even  of  a  work  of 
God,  is  abhorrent  to  any  person  of  common  sense, 
but  an  occasional  judicious  representation  of  facts  is 
due  to  the  credit  of  God's  work,  and  a  means  of 
stimulating  the  faith  of  His  workers.  We  could  have 
formed  no  appreciative  idea  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  great 
Pentecostal  work  in  Jerusalem  if  St.  Luke  had  not 
said,  "  Then  they  that  gladly  received  his  word  were 
baptized  :  and  the  same  day  there  were  added  unto 
them  about  three  thousand  souls."     In  regard  to  the 
further  statistical  exhibit  I  propose  to  make  for  the 
glory  of  God,  I  may  remark,  I  never  number  the  con- 
verts myself,  but  note  the  numbers  if  furnished  to  me 
by  the  ministers,  who  personally  examine  them  and 
record  their  names  and  addresses  ;  their  examination 
by  the  pastors  is  to  assure  themselves  that  the  persons 
professing  to  find  peace  with  God  can  give  satisfac- 
tory testimony  to  a  real  change  of  heart  from  the 
witness  and  renewing  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.     If 
their  testimony  is  clear,  their  names  and  addresses 
are  recorded  for   the   purpose,   not   of  numbering 
simply,  but  of  putting  them  definitely  under  pastoral 
care  and  training. 

The  six  thousand  and  upwards,  before  mentioned, 
as  having  been  examined  and  reported  saved  at 
my  services  in  Australia,  New  Zealand  and  Tas- 
mania, embraced  simply  those  professing  to  find 
peace  with  God  at  my  immediate  services,  but  this 
African  exhibit  will  embrace  not  only  those  saved 
immediately  at  my  meetings,  but  those  also  saved  in 
the  districts  in  which    I    laboured  simultaneously 


STATISTICS   OF   THE    WORK    OF    GOD.  533 

with  my  services  during  the  period  of  seven  months. 
The  annual  returns  in  Wesleyan  Missions  there  are 
made  in  the  month  of  September,  so  the  returns  would 
embrace  the  first  fruits  of  our  series,  who,  having 
fulfilled  a  three  months'  probation  (six  months  with 
American  Methodists),  are  returned  as  members  un- 
der the  head  of  "  increase/'  but  the  majority  were 
"  on  trial,"  not  having  had  time  to  fulfil  their  perior- 
of  probation;  and  the  fruits  of  D'Urban  and  Yerulam 
in  Natal,  and  four  weeks'  subsequent  labour  in  Cape 
Town  District  were  after  September,  and,  hence 
do  not  appear  in  the  "  annual  report."  It  will  be 
seen  from  the  foregoing  tables  that  the  netincreasein 
those  two  districts  was  1,888  members,  3,556  remain- 
ing on  trial,  making  an  aggregate  of  5,444.  In  Natal 
there  were  of  natives  who  professed  to  obtain  peace 
with  God  735,  whites,  320;  of  natives  atEmfundisweni, 
over  150,  making  an  aggregate  of  1,205 ;  to  these  may 
be  added  over  200  in  Cape  Town  District,  making  a 
total  of  6,849  souls  duly  examined  and  reported  from 
without.  Then  in  the  societies,  besides  the  great 
quickening  of  believers  in  many  places  fully  one 
quarter  of  the  regular  seekers  and  converts  were  at 
the  same  time  Church  members.  About  250  such 
were  among  the  Annshaw  converts,  and  about  200 
Brother  Sargent  reported  at  Heald  Town,  and  a  simi- 
lar proportion,  so  far  as  we  could  learn,  in  all  other 
places ;  but  if  we  put  the  proportionate  number  of 
converts  among  the  previously  enrolled  members  in 
the  Graham's  Town  and  Queen's  Town  districts  at 
one-fifth    instead  of  one-fourth,  it  will   add   1,088 


534  PROGRESS   OF   THE    WORK. 

to  the  list  of  converts  in  those  two  districts. 
Besides  these,  Brother  Edwards  at  Somerset  says, 
many  of  our  converts  belonged  to  other  organiza- 
tions there,  "  and  were  lost  to  us,  but  not  to  God." 
Brother  Shepstone  writes  that  the  fire  spread  into 
other  denominations,  and  at  Kat  River,  300  were 
added  to  the  Church ;  at  Ilankey,  150  ;  and  so  in  many 
other  places  the  work  spread  out  from  the  centres  in 
which  our  meetings  were  held;  but  not  counting  any 
of  these— not  being  personally  examined  and  re- 
ported by  our  regular  missionaries,  though  all 
saved  we  hope — by  adding  the  1,088  aforesaid,  we 
have  a  grand  total  brought  to  God  within  the  space 
of  seven  months  of  7,937  souls.  Of  these,  about 
1,200  were  Colonists,  and  the  remainder  Kaffirs. 
Glory  be  to  God  !     Amen  ! 

Now  for  a  few  facts  illustrating  the  genuineness 
and  continued  progress  of  the  work,  and  the  multi- 
plication and  increased  effectiveness  of  the  workers. 

INDICATIONS    OF   PROGRESS    IN    KAFFRARIA. 

Rev.  Peter  Hargraves  writes  concerning  this  work 
in  Clarkebury  under  date  of  May  1867,  ten  months 
after  my  departure,  as  follows  : 

Here  we  have  abundant  cause  to  remember  your  visit 
and  to  feel  grateful  for  the  "  showers  of  blessings  "  which 
accompanied  and  followed  your  faithful  and  zealous  labours 
amongst  us.  "VVe  are  not  the  same  people,  the  Mission  Station 
is  not  the  seme.  Grace  has  wrought  a  great  and  blessed 
change  in  the  moral  and  mental  habits  of  the  people 
around  us. 


HARGRAVES'    LETTER.  535 

The  blessed  revival  of  religion  did  not  cease  when  you 
left  us.  It  continued,  and  continues  even  to  this  day. 
"When  it  commenced  there  were  scarcely  one  hundred  per- 
sons meeting  in  class,  and  but  few  of  these  could  give  a 
satisfactory  testimony  of  their  conversion  to  God.  Most  of 
them  were  formalists,  and  believed  the  class  to  be  the  means 
and  end  of  salvation.  Now,  blessed  be  the  name  of  God, 
there  are  more  than  four  hundred  and  sixty  persons  in 
society  with  us. 

Testimonies  to  the  change  wrought  in  the  moral  habits 
of  the  people  have  come  from  all  quarters.  Some  time  back 
a  counsellor  of  Ngangelizwe  was  on  the  station  for  two  or 
three  days,  and  on  leaving  he  told  one  of  the  traders  that 
Clarkebury  used  to  be  like  a  large  canteen,  but  during  this 
visit  he  had  not  been  able  to  get  any  beer  or  find  any  beer 
drinkers.  The  Chief  visited  and  remained  with  us  two 
days.  When  leaving,  he  took  my  hand  and  said,  "  I  be- 
lieve in  this  people  now,  they  serve  God  in  truth."  Testi- 
monies like  the  above  might  be  multiplied  to  any  number. 

This  blessed  work  has  not  been  circumscribed  by  the 
boundaries  of  the  station,  but  has  affected  and  influenced 
many  heathen  families  residing  miles  beyond  the  station. 
At  one  kraal,  under  a  head  man  named  "  Pelshana,"  we 
have  had  between  twenty  and  thirty  conversions.  At  ano- 
ther kraal  in  the  "  Uololwa  "  we  have  been  able  to  form  a 
class  of  ten  members.  At  the  Cwecweni  the  number  in 
society  has  risen  from  eight  to  twenty-eight.  At  Kubi's 
kraal  we  have  a  society  of  nearly  forty  members.  At  the 
present  time  we  have  societies  in  the  different  places  be- 
yond the  limits  of  the  station,  composed  of  more  than  one 
hundred  and  twenty  members. 

"  I  enclose  you  a  late  plan  of  our  preaching  appoint- 
ments, and  though  it  does  not  show  all  our  labours — it  will 
prove  that  we  are  beginning  to  do  something  in  the  way  of 


536  •      PROGRESS   OF   THE   WORK. 

carrying  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  the  heathen  around  ns 
Our  present  plan  has  on  it  the  names  of  twenty-seven  Local 
Preachers,  and  twenty-one  places  where  services  are  held 
every  Sabbath,  and  occasionally  on  the  week  days. 

I  meet  the  Leaders  and  Local  Preachers  every  Friday, 
when  we  read  over  the  appointments  for  the  coming  Sab- 
bath, and  then  each  leader  reports  the  state  of  his  class. 

I  must  say  but  little  of  our  chief.  We  have  services  at 
his  place  every  Sabbath.  The  attendance  is  good,  but  we 
see  little  or  no  effect.  The  chief  himself  has  given  us  great 
trouble  during  the  last  few  months.  We  have  had  great 
contentions.  It  is  only  within  the  last  few  days  that  the 
chiefs  of  the  tribe  have  refused  his  unjust  decisions  and 
done  us  all  the  justice  we  claimed. 

H.  B.  "Warner,  who  was  saved  at  our  Clarkebury 
series  of  meetings,  has  gone  forth,  and  continues 
preaching  to  the  Kaffirs  with  great  success.  The 
Clarkebury  Mission  is  now  spread  out  among  the 
heathen,  embracing  eighteen  different  preaching- 
places,  filled  by  twenty-eight  different  preachers,  be- 
longing to  the  circuit.  lie  v.  P.  Hargraves,  the  mis- 
sionary, at  the  head ;  W.  S.  Davis,  who  translated 
"  The  Eden  above,"  second ;  H.  B.  Warner  third ; 
and  then  the  native  force  of  Local  Preachers. 

Brother  Warner  has  recently  written  me  a  brief 
history  of  his  rebellious  life  against  God,  his  con- 
version, and  subsequent  experiences,  which  I  would 
gladly  insert  if  my  space  would  permit.  The  first 
leading  instrument  of  Satan,  by  which  he  was  led 
into  wicked  association  with  the  heathen,  was  the 
"  pipe,"  and  it  was  the  last  thing  he  surrendered  in 


LETTERS   FROM    KAFFRARIA.  537 

his  penitential  struggle  before  accepting  Christ.  He 
says  it  is  a  sign  and  leading  means,  to  the  most 
sinful  vices  of  heathen  Kaffirs,  and  while  he  would 
not  judge  any  Christians  uncharitably  for  using  it, 
nevertheless,  if  Christian  laymen  and  ministers  in 
Africa  could  appreciate  what  he  knows  of  the  signifi- 
cance and  diabolic  use  of  the  pipe  among  the  heathen, 
they  would  abandon  it  at  once  and  for  ever.  Rev. 
W.  B.  Rayner  writes  me  that  100  heathens,  under 
H.  B.  Warner,  have  been  converted  to  God. 

Rayner  has  been  removed  from  Morley  to  the 
Tsomo,  and  lives  at  the  old  military  station,  where 
we  dined  with  Colonel  Barker.  There  was  no  society 
there  then  ;  but  now  Brother  Rayner  writes  me  he 
has  a  large  circuit  there,  with  170  church  members, 
and  daily  increasing. 

Rev.  T.  Jenkins  writes  from  Emfundisweni,  in 
April,  1867,  nine  months  after  our  departure,  say- 
ing':— 

We  rejoice  over  the  souls  brought  to  GTod  when  yon. 
were  here,  as  those  who  have  found  great  spoil.  Heathen- 
ism then  received  a  great  shock,  and  a  few  more  would 
make  the  powers  of  darkness  tremble  to  their  foundation. 
A  few  days  ago  some  of  the  converted  women,  residing 
about  ten  miles  off,  were  here,  and  in  conversation  with 
Mrs.  Jenkins,  said,  "  Before  the  word  of  God  came  to  our 
hearts  we  lived  like  beasts,  we  scarcely  knew  that  we  be- 
longed to  human  kind ;  but  now  we  know  that  we  are  the 
children  of  God."  Nothing  but  the  grace  of  God  would 
induce  such  people,  who  never  attended  the  house  of  wor- 
ship, to  come  as  they  do  now,  ten,  fifteen,  and  twenty  miles 


538  PROGRESS   OF   THE  WORK 

to  our  Sabbath  services.     "  It  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and 
marvellous  in  our  sight." 


The  work  in  Natal  is  progressing  quietly,  but 
6teadily,  aggressively,  successfully,  especially  among 
the  natives.  The  new  workers,  who  know  the  Kaffir 
language,  are  owned  of  God  in  their  work. 

When  I  was  in  Pulraerton,  Rev.  Mr.  Allsopp,  the 
missionary  who  came  from  Verulam,  Natal,  the  pre- 
ceding year,  received  a  letter  from  a  young  native 
interpreter  at  Verulam,  saying  that  the  Quarterly 
Meeting  proposed  to  employ  him  for  twenty  years 
as  interpreter  for  the  missionaries,  and  hesitating  to 
make  so  long  an  engagement,  he  wanted  to  consult 
his  old  pastor.  I  said  to  Allsopp,  "  You  will  see  that 
God  will  raise  up  so  many  native  preachers,  that  long 
before  twenty  years  shall  pass,  you  will  scarcely  hear 
of  such  a  thing  as  an  interpreter  in  the  country.-" 
An  extract  from  a  letter,  written  by  my  host,  Mr. 
Thomas  Garland  of  Verulam,  will  illustrate  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  work  in  that  direction. 

My  nepbew,  John  William  Stranack,  is  one  of  the  most 
complete  conversions  I  ever  witnessed,  or  anybody  else  here 
ever  knew  ;  he  has  been  working  in  the  Sabbath-school, 
going  out  to  country  places  to  hold  prayer-meetings,  and 
is  on  our  plan  on  trial  as  a  Local  Preacher.  Every- 
where, so  far,  the  people  are  more  than  pleased  with  his 
sermons ;  their  literary  worth  is  much  beyond  the  ordinary 
productions  of  young  men.  You  may  look  for  his  name 
amongst  the  itinerant  lists  in  a  year  or  two,  so  I  believe,  for 


YOUNG  CONVERT'S  MISSION  AMONG  THE  ZULUS.        539 

he  has  talents,  and  they  are  all  now  dedicated  to  God  and 
His  cause  on  earth. 

F.  B.  Fynney  continues  faithful,  and  has  laid  himself 
out  to  work  for  God,  and  is  anxious  to  be  a  missionary. 
I  am  sure  this  young  man  is  called  to  preach.  The  success 
that  marks  his  labours  everywhere  are  in  proof  of  that, 
and  to  tliis  I  attribute  the  terrible  mauling  the  devil  some- 
times gives  him.  He  is  naturally  impetuous,  and  this  with 
other  difficulties  has  given  him  trouble,  but  he  is  braving 
the  storm  manfully.- 

Fynney,  young  Campbell,  and  Blainey,  started  off  on  a 
tour  to  Zulu  country,  intending  to  visit  Ketchwayo,  the 
ruling  Prince  of  that  land,  and  they  got  nearly  to  the  place 
of  his  residence,  but  he  had  gone  away  to  be  absent  for  some 
weeks ;  but  they  held  services  every  day  with  the  Kaffirs, 
and  everywhere  good  was  done.  They  met  with  one  young 
man,  a  Kaffir,  who  had  left  our  station  here  and  forsaken 
God.  Fynney  asked  him  how  it  was  he  left  following  Jesus. 
"  Well,"  said  he,  "  I  was  on  your  side  of  the  river  long 
while,  and  was  very  happy ;  but  looking  over  to  the  side  I  am 
now  on,  I  saw  lots  of  shining  white  stones,  and  I  wanted  to 
be  rich  ;  so  I  said,  that's  the  place,  I  leave  this  side  and  go 
there.  I  came  and  found  ah,  alligators,  and  I  am  now 
being  devoured.  What  a  fool  I  was."  "  But,"  said  Fynney, 
"why  not  go  back?"  "  Well,  but  I  cannot."  "Why 
not?"  "  The  river  is  deep,  and  when  I  get  over  who  will 
care  for  me."  "Why,  don't  you  see  Jesus  standing  there 
waiting  for  you?"  "  Oh,  no,  He  won't  love  me  again." 
"  But  look,  there  He  stands."  "  Well,  I  can't  see  Him, 
and  I  cannot  get  over  the  river ;  to  make  the  attempt  is  to 
be  lost ;  I  must  die  where  I  am."  "  Well,  if  you  had  a  boat, 
would  you  go?  "  "  Well,  yes  ;  oh,  yes."  "  Then  see,  here 
is  a  boat; "  a  promise  of  God's  word  was  given.  "  Well,  I 
cannot  row,  I  want  oars." — Some  more  truth  was  furnished 


540  PROGRESS   OF   THE    WORK. 

from  God's  record.  "  No,"  said  the  man,  "  I  don't  believe 
it's  any  use ;  I  don't  believe  Jesus  is  there  ;  I  must  give 
it  up."  Fynney  prayed  with  him  that  night,  and  they  had 
a  prayer-meeting.  Next  morning  it  was  very  cloudy  and 
wet.  About  eleven  o'clock  Fynney  met  this  same  man. 
"  Good-morning,  Jonas,"  "  Sacaboni  unigane."  "  Well, 
where  is  the  sun,  Jonas?"  "  Oh,  there,  overhead."  "  Oh 
no,  Jonas,  sun  is  not  up  yet."  "  Not  up  ? "  said  Jonas. 
Yes  it  is.  I  tell  you  'tis  up  there."  "  Well,  Jonas,  you 
must  be  cheating  me.  I  cannot  see  the  sun,  and  yet  you 
Fay  :t's  there;  must  I  believe  it,  Jonas?"  "  To  be  sure 
you  must,"  said  Jonas,  "  if  you  are  not  a  fool  you  will." 
"  Well,  I  do,  Jonas,  believe  it. — Jonas,  can  you  believe 
Jesus  waits  on  the  other  side  to  receive  you  ?"  Jonas  hung 
down  his  head,  covered  his  face  with  his  hand  a  moment, 
then  said,  "I  see  it;  I  see  it;  I  will  pull,  I  will  cross. 
I  believe  everything ;  I'll  go  to  Jesus,  He  will  save  me." 
And  he  did  it,  and  was  saved,  and  was  "  shouting  happy." 

At  the  same  place  Fynney  was  preaching,  discussing 
the  theory  of  snake  transmigration,  in  which  they  believe. 
When  he  suggested  that  it  would  be  well  for  all  who  really 
believed  they  should  become  snakes  hereafter,  just  to  prac- 
tice it  a  little,  and  get  ready  to  move  amongst  the  snake 
fraternity,  and  asked  all  such  believers  just  to  have  a  trial 
of  moving  on  their  bellies,  down  this  grassy  hill  near  by  ; 
and  this  simple  touch  of  the  ludicrous  did  more  than  an 
hour's  argument ;  they  gave  a  unanimous  vote  that  day,  that 
they  did  not  and  would  not  believe  in  snakes. 

At  several  places  the  natives  crowded  round  this  band, 
and  implored  them  to  stay  and  preach  again,  and  repeated 
this  recpiest  till  Fynney  was  left  alone,  not  getting  home 
till  eight  or  nine  days  after  the  others,  and  everywhere 
many  of  those  poor  dark,  uneducated  men  received  the 
Gospel,  and  were  made  happy.     At  the  American  Mission 


THE    "  KAFFIR    BAND."  541 

Station,  under  the  Rev.  A.  Grout,  the  people  sent  a  request 
to  their  minister,  that  Mr.  Fynney  should  preach  to  them 
as  he  passed,  and  though  it  was  the  middle  of  a  working 
day,  all  left  their  work,  and  the  chapel,  holding  500  people, 
was  comfortably  filled;  and  then,  outside  for  two  hours, 
Fynney  discussed  the  way  of  salvation,  the  people  weeping, 
and  begging  him  to  stay  longer.  Mr.  Grout  thanked  him 
heartily,  and  invited  him  to  come  at  any  time  to  preach. 
Fynney  has  spent  much  of  his  time  at  Verulam  with  Mr. 
Kirkby,  and  a  great  many  of  the  natives  have  been  brought 
in.  We  have  now,  in  addition  to  those  above  named,  Mr. 
Hill,  Foss,  and  Daddy,  living  in  Verulam,  all,  especially 
Hill,  who  has  traded  in  Zulu-land  for  years,  are  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  Zulu  language.  Hill  is  a  reclaimed  back- 
slider; a  very  determined  character,  of  good  practical  sense. 
These  have  engaged  to  preach  to  Kaffirs,  and  on  our 
plan  is  a  list  of  places  to  which  they  go  regularly  every 
Sabbath ;  so  that  we  have,  what  we  now  call,  our  Kaffir 
band,  numbering  nine,  in  all,  in  our  circuit,  and  it  is  to 
the  Kaffir  kraals  they  go ;  an  agency  is  thus  commenced 
for  carrying  salvation  to  this  people,  such  as  we  have  never 
seen  before.  Other  young  men  are  studying  the  native 
tongue,  anxious  to  be  of  this  band  of  evangelists.  I  have 
realized,  in  a  degree  I  never  did  before,  the  purpose  of  God 
in  bringing  us  to  this  land.  Since  these  young  men  have 
set  to  work  thus  to  spread  the  Gospel,  I  feel  it  is  enough  to 
compensate  for  being  here,  if  nothing  more  was  accom- 
plished, thus  to  see  the  beginning  of  God's  purpose  d 
Veloped  in  this  manner. 

At  Umhlali  we  had  three  members  when  you  came  to 
Verulam.  Eight  or  ten  persons  from  there,  came  and 
heard  you,  were  saved,  went  back  and  told  what  God 
had  done  for  them,  and  the  work  of  the  Lord  began  to 
spread.     "We  had  the  new  chapel  opened  there  just  four 


512  PROGRESS   OF   THE   WORK. 

weeks  after  you  left,  and  a  large  party  of  us  went;  we 
had  public  meetings,  anthems,  and  speeches.  I  was  called 
to  take  the  chair.  Mr.  Barton  and  Kirkby  were  there.  I 
wanted  it  to  be  a  salvation  meeting,  and  spoke  accordingly. 
Messrs.  Barton,  Kirby,  and  Tyler  (American  missionary), 
all  threw  their  prepared  speeches  to  the  wind,  and  spoke 
to  the  point;  the  power  of  the  Lord  came  down.  An  altar 
of  prayer  was  formed,  eight  or  ten  persons  came  forward ; 
amongst  them,  Mr.  Tyler's  son,  a  young  man  of  seventeen 
years  old.  The  whole  community  seemed  moved  with  deep 
concern  about  their  souls.  Mr.  Kirkby  remained,  and  held 
a  series  of  services  every  night,  and  now  we  have  two 
classes,  numbering  altogether  thirty-six  members,  and  a 
chapel  filled  every  Sabbath,  large  Sabbath-school,  and  week- 
day services,  just  the  same  as  in  Verulam. 

One  man  there,  an  old  Local  Preacher  from  Bristol,  was 
nearly  ready  to  drop  into  hell  through  strong  drink.  I  have 
often  warned  him,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  has  striven  with  him 
again  and  again;  but  he  seemed  bent  on  his  own  de- 
struction for  time  and  eternity.  I  wrote  and  urged  him 
to  come  and  hear  you  in  Verulam,  but  he  did  not;  but 
some  of  my  words  in  that  letter  troubled  him,  and  he 
was  among  those  brought  in  with  his  wife  and  two  sons  at 
Umhlali — a  clever  man — but  sin  has  nearly  unfitted  him 
for  service  in  God's  cause.  He  has,  of  course,  also  taken 
the  pledge  of  teetotalism,  and  so  the  work  goes  on,  and 
many  are  added  to  the  church,  such  as  are  saved  by  faith 
in  Jesus. 

Rev.  Charles  Harmon,  junior  minister  atD'TTrbai*. 
Natal,  writes  for  the  Missionary  Notices  for  October^ 

18G7,  saying : — 

I  rejoice  to  be  able  to  inform  you  that  the  work  of  God 


THE   DYING    ZULU    MATU.  543 

is  still  progressing  in  our  midst.  Those  who  pro]  .hesied 
speedy  reaction,  and  foretold  disgraceful  declension  of  pro- 
fessed converts,  have  been  disappointed.  With  very  few- 
exceptions,  those  who  professed  to  find  salvation  are  giving 
the  best  proof  of  its  possession,  a  consistent  godly  life. 
The  Kaffir-speaking  young  nife^  who  were  brought  to  God 
at  the  revival  of  last  year,  and  who  at  once  went  to  work 
among  the  heathen,  are  still  gladly  and  diligently  doing 
the  work  of  evangelists. 

Rev.  Thomas  Kirkby,  junior  missionary  in  Yeru- 
lam,  writing  for  the  Missionary  Notices,  for  June, 
1867,  says  :  "  In  the  native  work  generally,  we  are 
progressing.  In  the  English  Circuits  the  Lord  has 
triumphed  gloriously,  and  is  still  showing  that  He  is 
above  men,  devils,  and  sin.  He  is  converting  men 
who  have  been  down  to  the  gates  of  hell/' 

Some  of  the  converts  have  died  in  the  Lord.  Rev. 
T.  Kirkby,  in  a  letter  published  in  the  Missionary 
Notices,  for  September,  1867,  gives  the  following 
interesting  account  of  the  death  scene  of  a  Christian 
Zulu  girl,  who  was  brought  from  heathendom  to  the 
mission-station  to  die  :-— 

When  she  arrived  on  the  station,  there  was  only  a  faint 
hope  held  out  to  her  of  the  possibility  of  her  recovery,  and 
when  told  about  a  week  after  this  that  she  must  die,  "  O," 
she  said,  "  I  am  not  afraid.  I  have  been  ready  many  days." 
It  was  about  ten  days  afterwards  that  she  departed.  About 
midnight,  when  all  but  the  sick  girl  were  fast  asleep,  a  sound 
6tole  across  to  the  ears  of  the  sleepers  who  were  near  her, 
a  sound  which  came  from  the  dying  girl,  as  she  talked  with 


544  PROGRESS    OF   THE   WORK. 

the  Invisible.  She  was  praying  the  last  prayer,  and  these 
were  some  of  the  words  that  the  waking  listeners  heard : 
"  0  Lord,  come  and  meet  me  !  "  One  of  the  women  asked 
her  if  she  needed  anything.  She  told  her  to  call  her  father, 
and  then  told  him  to  pray  for  her  ;  and  when  he  had  given 
expression  to  his  desires  for  his  child's  safety,  he  asked  her 
how  she  felt  in  prospect  of  death.  "0,"  she  said,  ''it  is 
all  right  now  !  God  is  with  me  !  I  am  safe  !  "  and  then 
came  the  last  struggle.  Lying  on  a  mat  in  the  low  room, 
open  to  the  roof,  with  her  head  upon  her  mother's  breast, 
and  her  feet  almost  touching  the  blazing  fire  that  was  on 
the  floor  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  she  said,  "  Put  my  feet 
nearer  to  the  fire,  I  am  so  cold."  Ah !  poor  child,  the  fire 
could  not  give  her  poor  body  warmth ;  already  she  was  in 
the  cold  river  of  death,  and  the  water  was  deep,  but  He  was 
there.  Feeling  anxious  to  leave  a  clear  testimony,  as  well 
as  to  do  what  good  she  could,  she  said,  "  Give  me  a  little 
water,  that  I  may  speak  a  little  more.  God  may  help  me 
to  say  that  which  may  do  good."  The  father  then  called 
to  a  neighbour,  and  said,  "  Come,  and  hear  my  child;  she 
is  going  to  God.  He  has  come  to  meet  her."  The  end 
was  near ;  and  so  to  her  was  the  heaven  side  of  Jordan. 
Fixing  her  eye  on  something  she  appeared  to  see  approach- 
ing, she  slowly  breathed  out,  "  The  wagon  is  coming  to — to 
— fetch  me;"  and  with  a  last  effort  she  said,  "  It  is  here  1  " 
These  were  her  last  words. 

In  the  Queen's  Town  District  we  have  very  en- 
couraging reports  of  progress.  Brother  Dugmore, 
however,  says  a  few  about  Queen's  Town  have  fallen 
away,  but  the  mass  of  the  converts  stand  firmly. 

A  few  incidents  and  facts  may  suffice  to  illustrate 
the  onward   movement  in  Graham's  Town  District, 


ANNIVERSARY   REVIVAL   SERVICES.  545 

and  finish  my  task.  TV.  A.  Richards  writes  from 
Graham's  Town  in  April  1867,  ten  months  after  my 
departure,  "  We  are  not  having  many  conversions 
in  our  church  just  now,  but  the  members  are  earnest 
in  seeking  higher  spiritual  blessing,  some  have 
grown  colder,  and  one  or  two  have  backslidden. 
But  why  should  we  not  make  inroads  on  Satan's 
kingdom,  now  as  well  as  when  you  were  here  ?  TVe 
have  the  ever-present  Lord  Jesus  with  us,  and  He  it  is 
who  works.  The  fault  must  be  in  us,  "  Oh  that  the 
church  would  purge  herself  from  dead  works." 

Rev.  TV".  J.  Davis  writing  me  from  Graham's 
Town,  under  date  June  13th,  1867,  a  year  after  my 
services  there,  says  :— 

You  will  rejoice  to  hear  of  the  prosperity  of  our  work  here. 
The  Lord  is  still  working  among  us,  and  many  souls  are 
being  saved.  We  have  had  this  month  a  series  of  special 
services  in  all  the  circuits  in  the  district,  which  we  intend  to 
hold  each  succeeding  year  in  commemoration  of  your  visit 
here  last  year.  It  was  so  much  blessed  to  us  all  as  ministers, 
and  resulted  in  so  much  good  to  our  people.  In  the  ser- 
vices just  held,  many  hundreds  have  been  converted,  and  our 
societies  have  been  greatly  blessed  and  revived.  I  have  a 
letter  from  Brother  Charles  Pamla,  who  is  in  the  Peddie 
Circuit,  in  which  he  tells  me  of  more  than  two  hundred 
being  added  to  the  church  there  during  the  special  services. 
I  have  faith  to  believe  that  the  whole  of  Kaffirland  shall 
soon  stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God.  It  is  the  greatest 
happiness  of  my  life  to  have  been  spared  to  see  this  work 
of  God.  Thirty-five  years  ago  I  began  to  "go  forth 
weeping,"    bearing    indeed  "  precious    seed,"  but   almost 

N  N 


546  PROGRESS   OF    THE    WORK. 

despairing  of  ever  seeing  that  seed  produce  so  glorious 
a  harvest ;  but  now  I  return  rejoicing,  bringing  my 
sheaves  with  me.     Tis  worth  living  for  this." 

Rev.  Robert  Lamplough,  who  has  been  for  six 
years  at  Annshaw,  and  who  now  is  labouring  at 
Heald  Town  writes  under  date  July  10th,  1867, 
saying  ;  "  The  work  here  is  not  very  satisfactory 
at  present ;  we  have  some  conversions  but  we  want 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Nearly  300  profess 
to  have  found  peace  since  we  came  here,  but  the 
work  is  not  what  I  should  like  to  see  it.  I  very  much 
miss  my  efficient  Native  helpers  at  Annshaw.  The 
people  here  have  not  been  trained  to  work,  though  I 
hope  they  are  getting  into  the  way.  Siko  Radas  went 
to  Somerset  the  other  week  and  had  thirty-three 
souls  brought  to  God,  under  his  preaching."  Siko  has 
commenced  preaching  since  he  went  with  me  as  inter- 
preter at  Somerset  and  Cradock,  and  is  preparing 
for  the  regular  ministry.  The  Lord  bless  him,  and 
give  him  wisdom  to  win  souls  to  Christ.  Brother 
Lamplough  had  only  been  in  Heald  Town  five 
months,  and  had  about  300  souls  saved  in  that  time, 
but  was  not  satisfied.  In  his  official  report  from 
Annshaw,  for  1865,  he  says :  "  This  Circuit  has 
prospered  spiritually  during  the  year.  Discipline 
has  been  beneficially  exercised.  Conversions  have 
resulted  in  several  instances.  The  officers  of  the 
Church  have  been  much  quickened.  The  three 
Evangelists  referred  to  last  year  (1864)  have  been 


CHIEF    MAXWAYANA  AND  HIS  WIVES,  t)4? 

diligently  employed  in  preaching  at  the  heathen 
kraals  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year.  There 
is  reason  to  believe  that,  partly  through  their  efforts, 
one  or  two  conversions  have  taken  place  amongst  the 
heathen,  and  in  other  respects  their  labours  have 
been  attended  with  much  good/' 

Last  year  he  had  1,200  conversions  in  Annshaw 
Circuit,  and  now  looking  at  the  resources  of  the 
Gospel,  available  for  the  salvation  of  all  Africa  and 
the  world,  with  his  heart  of  love  for  precious  souls 
attuned  to  the  loving  heart  of  Jesus,  to  spend  five 
months  in  getting  300  souls  saved  is  a  disappointing 
business  to  my  dear  Brother  Lamplough. 

Charles  Pamla  was  appointed  Junior  Minister  at 
Fort  Peddie  Circuit,  and  lives  at  Newtondale.  At 
his  first  service  he  had  the  two  wives  of  a  leading 
chief,  converted  to  God,  with  a  number  of  others. 
The  following  extract  of  a  letter  I  recently  received 
from  him,  gives  a  very  brief  notice  of  what  an  affair 
it  lead  to  with  the  chief : — 

I  have  no  time  to  tell  you  all  the  facts,  but  must  tell  you 
about  the  conversion  of  the  Chief  Maxwayana.  His  two 
•wives  came  to  the  meeting  the  first  Sunday  I  preached  at 
Newtondale,  and  were  both  converted,  to  the  astonishment 
of  both  heathen  and  Christians.  But  God  showed  that  His 
Gospel  has  all  the  power  to  save  the  worst  of  sinners. 
Some  heathen  thought  they  were  mad.  Their  husband 
was  not  at  home.  When  he  came  home  he  wanted  to 
bring  a  case  against  me  about  his  second  wife,  because  now 
she  was  converted,  she  refused  to  live  with  him.     But  his 


518  PROGRESS   OF    THE    WORK. 

elder  wife  and  two  friends  persuaded  him  to  come  to  the 
service  himself,  and  he  was  converted,  with  many  other 
heathen.  Such  is  the  power  of  the  Word  of  God  here  at 
present. 

Some  of  my  friends  think  I  shall  spoil  Charles 
Pamla,  by  telling  the  whole  truth  about  him,  but  I 
know  my  man,  and  he  is  blessed  with  a  sick  wife, 
and  plenty  of  jealous  friends,  and  bitter  enemies, 
all  of  whom  the  Holy  Spirit  will  turn  to  good 
account,  for  the  development  of  his  patience,  meek- 
ness, and  humility. 

Brother  Lamplough,  writes  me  again  as  late  aa 
August  7th,  1867,  as  follows : — 

Heald  Town, 
7th  August,  1867. 

My  dear  Brother, 

I  enclose  a  letter  from  Charles  Pamla,  who  has  been 
spending  some  eight  or  nine  days  with  us  at  Heald  Town, 
conducting  special  services.  We  have  had  some  very  good 
seasons,  and  about  sixty  souls  have  professed  to  enter  into 
the  enjoyment  of  salvation.  The  results  would  have  been 
much  greater,  had  not  the  revival  services  been  interfered 
with  by  missionary  anniversaries  here  and  at  Fort  Beau- 
fort, which  took  up  half  the  time  of  Charles's  visit. 

I  was  very  much  pleased  with  Charles ;  he  is  still  as 
earnest  and  devoted  as  ever,  and  is,  doubtless,  a  chosen 
instrument  for  accomplishing  great  good  in  South  Africa. 
I  believe  some  six  or  seven  hundred  have  been  brought  to 
God  since  he  went  to  Peddie  last  March,  and  the  work  is 
still  going  on. 

The  Church  here  has  been  much  quickened  and  blessed 
through  Brother  Pamla's  visit,  and  if  we  can  only  get  our 


HEATHEN    OBJECTIONS    AGAINST    PAMLA.  519 

ltaders  and  members  into  a  better  state,  I  bave  no  doubt 
we  shall  soon  see  a  glorious  work  at  Heald  Town.  Kaffir 
beer  is  all  but  done  away  with,  as  well  as  other  heathen 
customs,  which  is  no  little  thing. 

As  a  closing  illustration  of  the  progress  of  the  work 
of  God,  and  of  His  workers  in  South  Africa,  I  will  in- 
sert a  letter  from  my  Brother,  Charles  Pamla : — 

Newtondale,  July  18th,  18G7. 

*  *  *  T  will  tell  you  the  great  objections  the  heathen 
have  been  making  against  the  work  of  God  and  against  me. 

First  objection  : — This  man  is  trying  to  get  all  our 
people  converted  so  as  to  get  lots  of  tickets  and  class- 
money,  and  also  to  increase  his  salary  from  the  white  men, 
and  become  the  richest  native  in  Africa.  We  will  not  go 
near  him  to  be  converted  by  him  and  increase  his  salary. 

Second  objection  : — This  man,  Pamla,  got  some  poison 
from  that  white  who  took  him  to  Port  Natal.  He  carries 
it  in  a  black  bag.  He  calls  the  foolish  people  to  come  to 
him  and  kneel  down,  so  as  to  get  at  them  and  poison  them, 
and  then  they  become  more  foolish,  and  believe  that  they 
have  been  converted,  when  they  are  not.  'Tis  not  the  work 
of  God,  for  we  never  saw  such  a  work  before.  If  it  is  the 
work  of  God  why  did  not  the  other  ministers,  who  have 
been  labouring  amongst  us  before,  do  such  things  ?  We 
never  saw  so  many  people  converted  amongst  us  heathen 
before. 

Third  objection,  based  on  a  false  report : — A  stranger, 
from  Annshaw  Circuit,  who  is  a  heathen,  told  the  heathen 
round  here,  "  This  is  the  very  man  who  was  removed  from 
Annshaw  by  our  white  men  because  he  was  doing  the  same 
work  there.  The  white  men  will  soon  find  out  that  he  is 
here  cheating  the  people  in  this  way,  causing  the  people 


550  PROGRF.SS   OF   THE    WORK. 

to  give  up  their  second  wives  and  pleasures,  and  keeping 
services  even  during  the  week-days.  He  deceives  you  be- 
cause you  are  black,  but  the  white  men  will  soon  find  him 
out  and  drive  him  away." 

Fourth  objection,  also  based  on  a  false  report  which 
went  round  as  an  alarm  : — "  Tell  all  the  heathen  people 
not  to  come  near  that  man,  for  a  person  has  just  brought 
the  news  that  the  people  who  were  converted  by  this  man, 
in  all  places  before  he  came  here,  are  all  dead,  and  it  will 
be  the  same  thing  here  soon."  When  the  new  converts 
here  heard  this,  they  said,  "  If  that  be  true,  we  will  go  to 
heaven  at  once  ! ''  Their  reply  was  a  great  disappointment 
to  the  enemies. 

Fifth  objection,  based  on  a  reform  from  the  drinking  of 
Kaffir  beer; — Many  of  our  mission-people  have  given  up 
the  custom  of  drinking  Kaffir  beer,  and  have  openly  broken 
their  beer-pots.  The  enemies  became  very  angry  indeed, 
and  said,  "  What !  what,  breaking  pots  ! — breaking  pots  ! 
We  never  heard  of  such  foolishness  before.  Shortly  some- 
thing will  happen."  They  were  specially  shocked  that 
their  Chief,  Matomela,  broke  his  beer-pots  and  gave  up  the 
beer-drinking,  and  the  enemies  said,  "  What  a  pity  we  are 
under  the  British  Government,  we  would  kill  Charles  Pamla, 
because  he  is  a  false  prophet,  and  because  he  has  persuaded 
our  chief  to  give  up  our  grandfather's  best  food,  which  is 
beer,  and  if  we  had  the  power  we  would  put  Matomela  out 
of  his  state,  as  chief,  for  giving  up  the  beer,  and  put  another 
in  his  place  who  would  drink  beer." 

But  notwithstanding  all  this  opposition,  the  work  is  grow- 
ing stronger  and  stronger.  We  get  fresh  converts  from 
the  heathen  every  week — men,  women  and  children.  Some 
of  their  chiefs  and  two  of  the  richest  heathen  men  in  the 
country — Giba  and  Cwati — have  been  converted  to  God. 
Besides  the  converted   chiefs   I  have  named  before,  I  will 


DEBATE  AT  THE  "  GREAT  PLACE"  OF  FUNDAKUBE-  551 

add  the  name  of  Chief  Mbilase.  I  will  be  able  next  time 
to  tell  you  the  number  of  converts  gathered  in  since  I  was 
appointed  to  this  circuit." 

Brother  Lamplough,  at  a  later  date,  says  that 
between  600  and  700  have  been  converted  to  God, 
under  Panda's  ministry,  during  his  five  months 
labour  in  his  new  circuit.     Pamla  continues : — 

T  have  been  preaching  almost  every  day,  except  a  few 
Fridays  and  Saturdays,  once  a  fortnight. 

Now  I  will  tell  you  how  I  have  answered  some  of  those 
objections  of  the  heathen.  I  went  to  the  Great  Place  of 
Chief  Fundakube,  and  laid  these  things  before  the  chief. 
I  then  asked  him  to  gather  together  his  counsellors  and 
best  men,  and  lay  the  subject  before  them,  and  select  a 
heathen,  whom  you  all  can  trust,  who  can  read  the  Kaffir 
Bible,  and  I'll  debate  my  cause  with  them.  The  chief 
and  his  people  were  very  glad,  and  so  a  day  was  appointed 
for  the  public  discussion  of  all  these  points.  The  day  ap- 
pointed was  a  Monday.  Due  notice  was  given,  and  at  the 
time  set  there  was  a  great  gathering  of  our  mission  people 
and  the  heathen  at  the  Great  Place  of  Fundakube,  but  we 
found  the  chief  and  his  party  tipsy  with  Kaffir  beer,  so 
we  appointed  to  come  again  on  Thursday.  When  we  came 
on  Thursday  we  found  them  all  right.  They  had  selected 
a  heathen  man,  by  the  name  of  Mawomba,  who  was  a  great 
enemy  to  religion,  well  respected  by  the  heathen,  one  whom 
they  could  trust,  and  who  could  read  the  Kaffir  Bible  well. 
So  we  opened  our  service  and  took  up  the  objections  in 
their  order.  In  regard  to  the  first,  I  said,  "  I  do  not  get 
any  money  from  the  white  men  for  the  new  converts.  If 
you  like,  I  will  give  you  an  order  to  go  and  draw  in  my 


502  PHOGltEJS   OF    TKE    WOLK. 

name  all  the  money  which  you  say  1  get  for  the  new  con. 
verts  from  the  white  men.  As  for  the  ticket  and  class- 
money,  which  amounts  to  a  few  shillings  weekly,  that  goes 
to  support  the  Gospel,  and  is  almost  nothing  compared 
with  what  you  pay  the  Kaffir  doctors,  in  oxen,  goats, 
money,  and  Kaffir  beer,  while  we  furnish  medicine  to  our 
members  free." 

They  answered  "Yes." 

In  regard  to  the  second  objection,  I  said,  "  I  have  no 
poison  from  Mr.  Taylor.  This  converting  power  was  an 
old  work  before  Mr.  Taylor  was  born.  I  have  the  Bible 
to  prove  that  this  work  did  not  begin  with  me  here  nor 
with  Mr.  Taylor.  Now  we  will  take  up  that  part  of  your 
objection  about  calling  sinners  to  come  to  Christ,  and  about 
them  kneeling  before  the  Lord  their  maker  to  pray  to  Him." 
Then  I  called  upon  Mawomba  to  read  from  the  Gospel  by  St. 
Matthew,  xi  chapter,  28  verse,  "Come  unto  me  all  ye  that 
labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and   I  will  give  you  rest." 

Also  Revelations,  xxii.  chapter,  1 7  verse,  "  The  Spirit 
and  the  bride  say,  Come,  and  let  him  that  heareth  say,  Come, 
and  let  him  that  is  athirst  come,  and  whosoever  will,  let 
him  take  of  the  water  of  life  freely." 

Mawomba  read  them  distinctly,  and  I  said,  "  These  pas- 
sages refer  to  the  calling  of  sinners  to  come  to  Christ,  now 
having  been  sent  both  by  God  and  by  His  ministers,  have  I 
not  a  right  to  call  sinners  to  repentance  ?  In  regard  to 
penitents  kneeling,  I  will  ask  Mawomba  to  read  the  6th 
verse  of  the  xcv.  Psalm.  Mawomba  read,  "  Oh  come,  let 
us  worship  and  bow  down,  let  us  kneel  before  the  Lord  our 
Maker."     Then  I  said,  "  Are  you  satisfied  ?  " 

They  answered,  "  Fes." 

"  In  regard  to  your  objection  about  so  many  heathen  con- 
verted in  so  short  a  time,  and  why  the  other  ministers  did 
not  do  the  same  work  in  the   same  manner,  I  answer, 


famla's  tefence  of  the  truth.  653 

first  in  regard  to  the  work  done  by  the  ministers  who  have 
been  labouring  amongst  you.  They  did  a  great  work. 
They  did  the  same  work  for  our  fathers  who  received  the 
Gospel  preached  to  them  by  those  men  of  God.  They 
bowed  down  on  their  knees  also,  and  were  not  too  proud  to 
worship  their  great  God  and  Creator  as  you  are  now.  But 
while  many  of  our  fathers  were  converted,  you  were  against 
the  ministers  who  laboured  amongst  you.  I  know  what 
sort  of  feelings  you  had  against  the  Word  of  God  and 
against  those  ministers.  You  were  not  their  friends  at 
aH. 

"When  you  went  to  hear  them  preach  you  at  once  began 
to  talk  to  each  other,  and  said,  '  What  has  he  been 
saying  ? ' 

"  Another  answered,  '  He  was  talking  about  some  wind 
in  the  air  which  he  called  God.'  Another  says,  '  He  was 
talking  about  death  and  dead  people.'  Another  replies, 
*  What  have  we  to  do  with  dead  people,  we  are  not  dead  ? ' 
Another  adds,  '  He  says  after  we  are  all  dead,  then  we  will 
all  go  to  hell.'  Then  they  all  laugh  and  say,  '  We  be  all 
dead,  who  will  go  to  hell  ?  "  This  is  but  an  example  of  the 
had  feeling  and  prejudice  of  nearly  all  the  heathen  people 
against  the  word  of  God,  then  and  now,  and  that  is 
the  reason  why  the  gospel  has  not  been  more  successful 
among  them.  I  then  told  them  how  ungrateful  it  was  for 
them  to  say  anything  against  the  old  ministers,  for  it  was 
through  them,  and  especially  Mr.  Ayliff,  that  their  fathers 
were  led  out  of  Kaffir  bondage  (for  they  were  Fingo 
heathen)  and  that  thousands  of  them  had  since  been  con- 
verted to  God. 

At  this  point  they  replied,  "  Our  complaint  is  not  that 
the  people  are  being  converted,  but  that  so  many  are 
converted  in  so  short  a  time." 

I  then  asked  Mawomba  to  read  the  41st  verse  of  the 


d54  progress  of  the  work. 

2nd  chapter  of  the  Acts,  and  he  read:  "  Then  they  that 
gladly  received  his  word  were  haptized :  and  the  same 
day  there  were  added  unto  them  about  3,000  souls."  Also 
the  3rd  and  4th  verses  of  the  4th  chapter,  "  And  they  laid 
hands  on  them,  and  put  them  in  hold  unto  the  next  day; 
for  it  was  now  eventide.  Howbeit  many  of  them  which 
heard  the  word  believed;  and  the  number  of  the  men  was 
about  5,000."  Then  I  said,  "What  have  you  to  say  to 
that  ?  about  3,000  souls  converted  in  one  day,  and  about 
5,000  converted  on  another  day."  I  then  told  them  about 
the  great  work  of  God  with  Mr.  Taylor  among  the  English 
at  Algoa  Bay,  Graham's  Town,  King  William's  Town, 
and  the  same  work  among  the  natives  at  Annshaw  and 
all  round,  right  up  to  Port  Natal,  where  there  was  also  a 
great  work  among  the  English.  Then  I  said,  "  Now  I 
will  tell  you  what  those  people  get  who  come  and  kneel  down 
as  penitents,  whom  you  say  I  poison,"  and  I  called  on 
Mawomba  to  read  to  them  from  Romans  5th  chapter, 
1-3  verses,  "Therefore,  being  justified  by  faith,  we  have 
peace  with  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ:  By  whom 
also  we  have  access  by  faith  into  this  grace  wherein  we 
stand,  and  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God.  And  not 
only  so,  but  we  glory  in  tribulations  also."  I  then  ex- 
plained to  them  the  new  birth  which  these  new  converts  had 
experienced,  and  got  Mawomba  to  read  to  them  a  part  of  the 
third  chapter  of  John,  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except 
a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  Kingdom  of  God  " 
I  told  them,  when  the  penitents  are  thus  born  of  God,  the 
new  law  of  God  is  written  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  their 
hearts,  and  I  got  Mawomba  to  read  the  37th  verse  of  the 
22nd  chapter  of  Matthew,  "  Jesus  said  unto  them,  Thou 
6halt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with 
all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  thou  shalt  love 
thy    neighbour    as    thyself."       I   explained    it    to   them 


CHIEF   PUNDAKUBE'S    DECISION.  555 

and  shewed  the  proofs  of  it  in  the  lives  of  the  converts. 
After  all  this  talk  Mawomba  stood  up  and  read  the  4th 
verse  of  the  150th  Psalm,  to  try  to  support  their  Kaffir- 
beer — dancing  feasts,  "  Praise  Him  with  the  timbrel  and 
dance :  praise  Him  with  the  stringed  instruments  and 
organs." 

In  my  reply  I  said,  "  How  do  you  explain  that  passage? 
Did  David  mean  that  dancing  which  the  heathens  and 
drunkards  do  in  worshiping  the  devil  ?  I  ask  you,  father, 
did  David  mean  that  the  people  should  worship  the 
devil  instead  of  the  true  God  ?  " 

Mawomba  said,  "  I  can't  explain  it.  You  will  please 
explain  it  to  me." 

I  said,  "  David  feared  God,  and  would  not  do  anything 
which  would  displease  God.  He  bad  a  harp  that  he  played 
in  worshiping  God,  just  as  the  English  have  an  organ  in 
their  churches  to  assist  them  in  singing  praise  to  God. 
Again  David  praised  God  with  all  his  things,  all  he  had 
was  devoted  to  God,  even  his  pleasures  were  done  unto 
God."  I  saw  that  the  man's  pride  was  gone  and  that  his 
power  failed  him,  and  he  stood  up  and  said,  "  I  never  un- 
derstood these  things  so  clearly  as  I  do  to-day,  both  in 
regard  to  the  work  of  revival,  and  my  own  questions." 
(A  Kaffir  is  a  noble  antagonist,  when  fairly  beaten  in 
argument  he  will  promptly  and  honestly  own  it.) 

Then  the  great  chief  Fundakube  said,  "  No  man  after  these 
things  which  have  been  done  to-day  should  ever  complain 
against  the  great  work  of  God.  We  are  all  satisfied. 
Our  own  man  has  read  these  things  out  of  the  Book  of 
God" 

Then  I  said,  "  Who  can  prevent  me  from  calling  sin- 
ners to-day  to  come  and  kneel  down  before  God  ?  " 

The  Chief  replied,  "  No  one  can  prevent  you.  Your 
way  is  clear,  but  we  will  go  home  to-day,   and  we  will 


556  PROGRESS   OF   THE    WORK. 

think  over  these  things.  We  are  all  well  pleased,  and  will 
hear  you  again."     Our  meeting  then  adjourned. 

In  the  next  service  I  held  at  the  Great  Place  of  Funda- 
kube  I  called  for  penitents.  The  Chief  came  and  talked  to 
me  privately,  and  said,  "I  will  kneel  down  before  God. 
but  not  before  you." 

I  said,  "  Kneel  down  where  you  are,  well  and  good.  I 
don't  want  any  sinner  to  kneel  to  me,  and  it  don't  matter 
about  the  place  if  there  is  a  broken  and  a,  contrite  heart 
submitted  to  God." 

Four  of  them,  the  Chief's  mother,  and  two  of  her  chil- 
dren, and  his  brother's  wife,  found  peace  with  God  that  day, 
and  the  Chief  seems  to  try  very  hard  to  seek  God.  I  will 
let  you  know  next  time  how  he  gets  on.  I  have  not  time 
to  tell  you  more  to-day.  I  may  say,  however,  while  there 
are  many  enemies,  thank  God  there  are  many  kind  friends 
also,  who  love  Jesus,  and  love  me  at  the  same  time.  I 
find  Mr.  Holford  to  be  a  kind  friend  and  Superintendent. 
I  have  a  native  friend  who  goes  with  me  to  help  me  in 
the  work,  and  he  is  very  pious,  and  a  great  assistance  to 
me." 

In  this  work,  in  those  barren  wastes  of  Africa,  we 
see  the  fulfilment  of  God's  own  words,  "  For  as  the 
rain  cometh  down  and  the  snow  from  heaven,  and 
returneth  not  thither,  but  watereth  the  earth  and 
maketh  it  bring  forth  and  bud,  that  it  may  give  seed 
to  the  sower  and  bread  to  the  eater,  so  shall  My 
Word  be  that  goeth  forth  out  of  My  mouth  ;  it  shall 
not  return  unto  Me  void,  but  it  shall  accomplish  that 
which  I  please,  and  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  I 
sent  it."  "  In  the  wilderness  shall  waters  break  out 
and  streams  in  the  desert.     And  the  parched  ground 


THE    HIGHWAY   OF    HOLINESS.  557 

shall  become  a  pod,  and  the  thirsty  land  springs  of 
water :  in  the  habitations  of  dragons  where  each  lay, 
shall  be  grassv  with  reeds  and  rushes.  And  a  high- 
way shall  be  theie,  and  a  way,  and  it  shall  be  called 
the  way  of  holiness  ;  the  unclean  shall  not  pass  over 
it,  but  it  shall  be  for  those  who  are  '  cleansed  through 
the  blood  'of  Jesus ;"  "  the  wayfaring  men  "  who,  like 
those  saved  sons  of  Africa,  obey  God,  and  walk  after 
II is  Spirit  in  this  holy  way,  "  though  fools,  shall 
riot  err  therein-*' 


WORKS 

BY  THE  KEY.  W.  TAYLOR 


IjU&iefoa, 


SEVEN  YEAES'  STEEET  PEEACHING 
IN  SAN  FEANCISCO. 

"  It  is  a  very  entertaining  volume,  full  of  adventure, 
grave  and  gay,  in  the  streets  of  a  new  city,  and  among  a 
peculiar  people." — New  York  Observer. 

"And  the  book  itself  so  thoroughly  good,  so  deeply 
interesting,  and  so  replete  with  wise  counsels,  and  ex- 
amples of  what  street  preaching  ought  to  he.  that  we 
cannot  but  wish  for  it  a  wide  circulation.  The  writer 
tells  his  story  with  the  simplicity  and  directness  of  a 
child,  and  the  incidents  related  are  of  a  most  unusual  and 
romantic  kind.  Too  much  cannot  be  said  in  praise  of  the 
nervous,  plain,  vigorous  style  of  the  author's  preaching. 
For  clearness,  directness,  and  force,  the  specimens  given 
in  this  book  have  never  been  surpassed." — London  Quar- 
terly Review. 

This  book  had  numerous  commendations  from  the  press, 
but  the  best  proof  of  its  worth  is  the  fact  that  over 
82,000  copies  have  been  sold. 


Works  by  the  Rev.  W.   Taylor. 


THE  MODEL  PREACHER. 

"It  is  a  book  calculated  to  stir  the  soul  to  manly  and 
bold  achievements  in  the  service  of  Christ,  in  the  great' 
work  of  preaching  His  gospel." — Methodist  Recorder. 

"  The  Saviour  is  Taylor's  '  Model  Preacher.'  I  wish 
to  say,  moreover,  that  although  the  book  is  addressed  to  a 
preacher,  and  on  the  subject  of  preaching,  yet  its  treat- 
ment is  such  that  almost  any  religious  person  will  be 
deeply  interested  in  perusing  it.  There  is  a  charm  about 
it,  like  the  author's  preaching,  a  freshness,  a  raciness,  an 
abundance  of  apt  illustration,  that  captivates  the  ordinary 
reader,  and  leads  him  from  chapter  to  chapter,  to  the  end 
of  the  book." — Professor  Win.  Hunter,  D.D. 

Over  20,000  copies  have  been  sold. 


CALIFORNIA  LIFE  ILLUSTRATED. 

"  Full  of  interesting  and  instructive  information, 
abounding  in  striking  incident,  this  is  a  book  that  every- 
body will  be  interested  in  reading." — New  York  Observer. 

"  Scenes  of  thrilling  excitement,  of  touching  tender- 
ness, of  noble  heroism,  and  of  dark  crime — not  concocted 
in  the  brain  of  the  novelist,  but  enacted  in  real  life — are 
here  depicted." — Ladies'  Repository. 

"It  is  replete  with  such  pictures  as  the  British  eye 
never  sees.  It  is  better  worth  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
editions  than  the  most  brilliant  novel  that  has  yet  seen 
the  light." — British  Standard. 

This  book  has  reached  a  circulation  of  30,000. 


Work*  by  the  Rev.  W.    Taylor. 


KECONCILIATION  ;  OR,  HOW  TO  BE 
SAVED. 

"  The  volume  before  us  contains,  in  six  chapters,  the 
author's  mode  of  teaching  the  great  Christian  doctrines  of 
salvation,  repentance,  and  faith,  and  some  striking  illus- 
trations and  anecdotes  enrich  its  pages.  We  wonder  not 
that  a  teacher  so  fearless  and  outspoken  should  have  been 
honoured  by  God  in  the  conversion  of  many  from  a  life  of 
indifference  and  vice,  to  one  of  faith  and  godliness." — 
Christian  Times. 

The  third  edition  of  this  book  has  been  issued  within  a 
few  months. 


INFANCY  AND   MANHOOD   OF 
CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

"  What  a  glorious  event  in  the  history  of  any  soul,  to 
be  born  again,  to  become  a  babe  in  Christ,  an  event  that 
we  will  celebrate  in  eternity ;  but  to  remain  a  babe  is  to 
become  a  dwarf,  and  fail  to  attain  the  end  for  which  we 
were  born." — Extract  from  Book. 

"  Mr.  Taylor's  style  is  direct,  vigorous,  and  sometimes 
colloquial.  Clear  statement  and  forcible  reasoning  are 
relieved  and  made  more  effective  by  apt  illustration. 
Christians  of  other  denominations  may  here  learn,  without 
any  undue  mental  exertion,  the  views  held  by  Wesleyans 
on  the  doctrine  discussed  by  our  author,  and,  even  when 
unconvinced,  they  can  hardly  fail  to  be  interested  and 
profited." — Christian  World,  May  3rd,  1867. 

The  volume  is  pervaded  throughout  with  an  earnest 
purpose,  and  the  writer,  in  many  a  powerful  passage, 
speaks  straight  to  the  conscience  and  to  the  heart."— 
Methodist  Recorder,  June  28. 


6V 

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